


Echoes of Fate - UNDERGOING REWRITE

by SweetFA (Geoclasm)



Category: Fate/stay night (Visual Novel), Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Action/Adventure, Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Relationships, Eventual Romance, Eventual Sex, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Serious, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-13
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:35:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 31
Words: 149,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28324686
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Geoclasm/pseuds/SweetFA
Summary: This series is undergoing a major rewrite. That means THIS version will no longer be receiving updates.My sincerest apologies. If you are a new reader, I advise you to abandon hope and enter not here. I will leave a link once the new version is going up.If you are NOT a new reader, I beg your patience and understanding. Irrational and unforgivable as it is, this is part of my process, and the story has never suffered for undergoing a tear-down and rewrite.At least, not from my perspective.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12





	1. Author's Notes

**Author's Note:**

> I'm always looking for people to beta read for me to help me improve both this work and as a writer in general, and I'm willing to reciprocate, be it by reading your work myself and offering feedback, leaving comments, leaving you a shout-out, or whatever else have you.

**This series is undergoing a major rewrite. That means THIS version will no longer be receiving updates.**   
**My sincerest apologies. If you are a new reader, I advise you to abandon hope and enter not here. I will leave a link once the new version is going up.**   
**If you are NOT a new reader, I beg your patience and understanding. Irrational and unforgivable as it is, this is part of my process, and the story has never suffered for undergoing a tear-down and rewrite.**

**At least, not from my perspective.**

**Cheers - SweetFA**

* * *

**Chapters 2-9: Revised on 02/14/2021. Nothing plot-relevant. Just trying to make them more enjoyable to read. Re-read them. Or don't, I'm not your mother.**

* * *

**F.A.Q., Authors Notes and Critique Responses**

**I thought I was being clear on some points through the writing, but that may not have been the case as I’ve had a few things come up in posted reviews that fall into similar trains of thought.**

**Also,[Discord!](https://discord.gg/NYS5XhsFqF) For some reason, I never dropped the server link. I'm not sure why. Anyway, if you want to drop in, say hi, share your thoughts, whatever else have you.**

* * *

**Bit of a slow start.** Totally valid. This is a slow burning long fic. Last I clocked, it came in about 200k words (archive panic intensifies). That was before I had as clear an idea of what I wanted to do. That's changed, and I've improved a bit, I'd like to think. It's definitely going to be longer than it was during the previous rewrites.

I had initially thought this was going to be a social fantasy with power fantasy elements… Several chapters that I've posted seem to be bearing that out less and less, to the point that it's starting to feel like an almost even mix. It's still leaning heavy into the social fantasy, but the ratio has definitely shifted.

I can't effectively say anymore whether or not it's one or the other, or an even mix of both. What I can say is if you're wanting sword-swinging magic blasting right out of the gate… you're probably going to want to look elsewhere.

* * *

 **Why is he so weak?** The primary reason is because if he were strong as he is in canon, it would be **boring**. That's not a valid enough reason to nerf him in the story proper. Fortunately, I had received an idea which I could kick around and adapt to make it work.

The guy is from a universe where everything is Aether. It's needed for life, magic, probably science, gods, souls, the undead, and all the crazy shit adventurers can do. It's lore. It's canon.

**HUGE. FUCKING. SPOILER. AHEAD. SKIP TO THE WEIRD SECTION IF YOU DON'T WANT TO READ IT.**

After the prologue, the guy isn't in that universe anymore. That means his access to the limitless supply of aether is cut off. That he doesn't die as soon as he arrives is reaching a bit, but again, that would be boring (though I have been watering an idea where that does happen, and what might come about as a result, so stay tuned for that. Or not, it's your time, lol). So now the guy has to ration his significant yet finite supply of resources. He can't fully exert himself because if he does, he'll die without the enemy landing a single decisive blow. He can't glut himself because if he does and burns through everything, he's screwed. Naturally, this begs another question.

* * *

 **Is he going to stay that weak?** No. Because that would bore as hell, too. I do not want to spoil anything beyond that, so I will say no more on that question.

* * *

 **Why is he so f***ing weird?** The character in the game is a character that I find to have an ill-defined, if present at all, personality. When I play the game, I do not feel like I'm playing 'Cloud Strife' or 'Squall Leonhart' or 'Fei Fong Wong'. Those characters are all fully fleshed out and have concrete personalities by the time the story ends.

When I am playing the game, I find the character is more of a shell into which I can project a personality. It's a significant reason I tried to merge these two fandoms (with varying degrees of success, YMMV)—because it would allow me to use the character as a template into which I can build a personality to my liking. I project a LOT of myself into this character. After all, I started writing this for me, and because I'm quite possibly certifiable, I chose to share it with you.

Sorry for that (lol).

Another reason is because the character is LITERALLY MY OWN CHARACTER taken from the game. It's why you won't see him *spoiling* every *spoiler spoiler*.

* * *

 **Why the f*** would he be so awe-struck?** This question came up twice in the same chapter. I attempted to revise a reason I found valid into the chapter in question, but I feel like it deserves a more explicit explanation here.

My personal reason is because having him just fucking shrug his shoulders is boring.

But my personal biases are not a valid reason for a thing, so this is the line of reasoning I'm following.

In the universe of FFXIV, Monsters are fucking. Monstrous. They are HUGE. They are seldom humanoid (though they often have human-like features such as faces, hands, mouths, arms, legs). They are often SLOW, and though their attacks are brutal, huge and devastating, they are not so much Dragon Ball Z Melee style attacks, by which I mean they tend to come one at a time, and not tens or hundreds over the course of a few seconds.

In the Fate/stay night universe, with one glaring exception, the monsters are decidedly NOT MONSTROUS. They are very much human looking creatures doing bat shit crazy things that even the WOL has not seen done by people of that sort.

* * *

 **Why doesn't he swear?** Nobody actually asked this yet, but I imagine it's coming, especially after reading this and seeing that I do tend to be rather expressive in my choice of vernacular.

He doesn't swear because I think censored swears and curses cut short are fucking hilarious.

* * *

 **Is there going to be s*x? Also, why would you censor s*x and not your own swears?** See my comments about being certifiable. Also, yes. There will be passionate hugging. Eventually. Again, see the comments under the slow start section.

* * *

 **You sure are re-treading a lot of old ground—** Yes, I am. I'm trying to write this as fandom-blind friendly as possible (with varying degrees of success, YMMV), meaning that I'd like for anyone to enjoy it without being familiar with either medium. Unfortunately, that also means covering a lot of canon material to do things like reveal character motivations, relationships, etc. It also means a lot of exposition you'll already be familiar with if you've followed either of the two medias.

However, the further we get from the starting line, the more deviations you can expect to see from canon proper.

As. Is. Appropriate.

* * *

 **My Reviews! -** The way FFNet handles reviews is... bizarre. They seem affixed to a chapter number, which is problematic if the chapters get shuffled. For that reason, I'll be logging legitimate (read: not just a few characters or trolling) reviews here so they survive things like chapters being shuffled around, or being removed in the event of a few chapters being sewn together.

If I note that I responded to your review in the author's notes, **do not feel called out or attacked.** It only means I found what you had to say valid, and felt that it warranted a response.

Istvaan had posted a review on Chapter 24 (Formerly, A Proper Meal, merged into Chapter 11; Which Cannot Be Deceived):

**I responded to this in the Author's Notes.**

Great stuff, though your protagonists personality is weird for a ShB WoL, overall story writing is great I like it.

SkullWolfStream had posted a review on Chapter 35 (Formerly, Don't Hurt My Friends, merged into Chapter 17; Don't Hurt My Friends):

**I responded to this in the Author's Notes.**

bit of a slow start i see(the fact 34 chapters and were still only at the start of fates story and at the 1st propper fight) but seeing you pump out so many chapters in such a short span is impressive and its well written too keep up the great work my dude!

Istvaan had posted a review on Chapter 36 (Formerly, Schoolyard Brawl, merged into Chapter 18; Red Night):

**I responded to this in the Author's Notes.**

I don't get why he is impress with the fight he is witnessing right now, if he really is a post- Shadowbringers Warrior of Light he really shouldn't be that impress or intimidated cause of the stuff he already encountered before were more intimidating.

Sogebu had posted a review on Chapter 36 (Formerly, Schoolyard Brawl, merged into Chapter 18; Red Night):

**I responded to this in the Author's Notes.**

Entertaining story but I feel like you're dumbing down your lalafell a bit too much. Servants are superhumans yes but Warrior of Light already faced down absolute monsters like Thordan, Shinryu and Hades. It makes zero sense for him to feel outclassed by Lancer and Archer. With the direction of this story it would be better if you just made him the occasional member of the actual WoL's raid party instead of being the actual WoL.

* * *

 **Why do the chapters keep changing? –** Because I keep changing them, lol. But in all seriousness, I re-read the work every so often to see what improvements I can make. Mostly this doesn't involve changes to the story as a whole, but just to the readability of it.

* * *

 **What's your favorite color?** \- Nobody gives a shit about that... Orange. Orange is my favorite color. And flavor.

* * *

 **A final note** —At the end of the day, this is mine that I chose to share with you because, again, I may very well be certifiably insane. I do so in hopes that you will enjoy it, and I will expand these notes as the need arises. Until then, if you made it this far and choose to continue reading the story, then you have my thanks. I love the brain juice I get from writing it, but I also love the brain juice that comes from knowing that other people are at least looking at it.


	2. Prologue - What Makes a Hero

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Revised on: 02/14/2021**

“You’re insane, old man.”

Taiasu delivers his scathing rebuke in a flat tone, his bright green eyes narrowing as he rubs his hand across his dark head fuzz. Hair all but absent for how close it’s been cut. His words are not what you’d expect from one appearing so young, especially when addressing an elder.

For him, it’s a non-issue. His diminutive stature is as grand as it will ever be, and he is close enough to the age of maturity.

Physically, at least.

The attire he wears, colored in shades of red, is a gift he’d received just before the start of his last journey, from which he’d recently returned. It’s also not what he is wearing, but a simple illusory glamour cast over his actual armor out of gratitude and deference to the one from whom he’d received said gift.

Besides that, he simply liked the way he looked when he was wearing it.

His finger taps the table in front of him a few times as he continues to stare down his new prospective client.

It’s not exactly fair to call him an ‘old man’. He’s in his prime, with hair also worn close to his head. His eyes are a mix of brown and green, and his face is rough with uncut stubble. He wears a simple gray cloak over a darker gray tunic and cloth pants, though the hood of the cloak rests on his shoulders. By all appearances, just your average middle-aged male Hyur, though unlike most he’s met, this man’s smile never seems to reach his eyes.

His way of speaking, how he carries himself, and his tone and inclination all make him feel much older than he appears, despite his clear youth. His taking no offense to being referred to as ‘old man’ also does little to abate any tendency to address him so.

The child-like man sighs and leans forward, resting his elbow on the table, and his chin in his hand. “You’ve told me nothing of this quest of yours, except that you want me to go someplace called Earth. I’ve never even heard of that continent.” He rubs the side of his head. “What’s worse is you’ve only said that it’s ‘far away’. If you want my help, I’ll need more than that. If you’ve nothing else for me, I’ll be leaving.”

He turns and his nose twitches subtly at the scents wafting by from the kitchen.

The pizza smells good today…

The entire continent holds the Bismarck in high regard as the finest dining establishment, and not without sound reason.

How did this guy even get a reservation?

The Bismarck’s nine tables are at capacity this late afternoon, yet somehow this old man has snagged a prime location overlooking the water. The canvas held in place above the open-air dining area ensures the worst of the elements do not stem the business of the Culinary Guild’s most profitable money-making venture.

Not a concern today. The breeze is light, and the air is warm, if somewhat damp.

One only needed to cast their gaze to the west to see the many ships moored at the docks. The Bismarck isn’t on the water, but stationed in the aptly named Upper Docks, meaning one would tumble a few seconds after falling from the deck before they began drinking in the waters of the Rhotano Sea.

Guard rails in place prevent the inebriated from learning the precise number of those few seconds.

The atmosphere is pleasant, but the food is the biggest draw, and the wide range and quality of meals they offer and serve daily proves the Bismarck’s reputation.

Tch. Whatever. There’s always time for food, and I’m not much caring for the company right now.

Lifting his insignificant frame from the chair, Taiasu stands and drops to the floor.

“Seriously… I have to draw the line somewhere.”

His new associate folds his arms across his chest and smirks.

“Afraid, are we?”

The small man’s rounded, protruding ears twitch as his brow draws inward to a point.

“Like hells! I’m many things, but that’s seldom among them.”

“Then what’s the problem?” the man asks. “It’s what you do, isn’t it? Hero?”

“Listen, old man–” He aims his finger at him.

“Watcher.”

“Watcher, what?”

The man’s smirk shifts into a smile.

“Call me ‘Watcher’.”

Taiasu kneads the point of his furrowed brow. “Okay, fine. Listen, Watcher. I don’t care what you heard, or from whom, but I’m not a hero. I’m just some guy. That’s it.”

Watcher chuckles. “Now, why say you’re not something everyone else says that you are, hm?”

“Because they’re WRONG!”

A nearby man drops his fork. Taiasu glances at him, and the patron turns his prying eyes away.

He takes in a deep breath and releases it slowly, counting to three and forcing himself to relax.

“I’m not a hero, and I never wanted to be one. It’s only ever been about helping people for me. I never cared for adulations or titles. I still don’t. People help each other if they can. That’s how it should be, at least.” He casts his gaze downward. “And whatever you heard, it was always a group effort. I only ever played a part. Heroes are the deciding factor, right? I’ve always been a part of a whole.”

“So, they’d have been fine without you, is what you’re saying?” the old man asks. “The world would continue, even if you’d not been present?”

“There’s always another person who could step in where I would have been.” His mouth turns in a small, sad frown. “Sometimes, I wish that had been the case. The cost is always heavy. Those victories…” His voice softens, and he swallows before continuing. “I’ll still be paying for a few long after I’ve returned what I’ve borrowed from the lifestream.”

The man only nods. “Heroes always carry a heavy burden…”

Taiasu’s frown sharpens and his eyes narrow. “Yeah, and as I already told you, I’m not one. I’m done here. You’ve misunderstood who I am. I don’t even understand why I agreed to meet with you…”

He turns on the heel of his red leather boots, putting the man and the table behind him.

“Because you’re curious.”

He stops mid-step and looks back at the chair and the table he’s about to leave, then to his quite untouched plate of food, and his stomach rumbles softly in protest. He stares hard at the floor for a few seconds and sighs before he takes his seat again.

Damn it… he’s right. Some old weirdo got my name and asked for me in person.

He stares at his plate for a second, lifting the fork, stabbing into the fresh chicken fettuccine in front of him, twirling some noodles around it.

Of course, I’m curious. If only a little.

“Fine. You’ve got ‘til I’m done with this food.”

“So, if it wasn’t to be a hero, then why did you get into this line of work?” Watcher asks.

He shrugs. “I’ve always loved exploring and meeting new people, so adventuring just felt like the right fit.” He smiles softly for a moment. “Sometimes it’s nice to rest, though. I’d been hoping for one of those chances before this meeting.” His expression dips slightly as he expresses his sentiment.

The man smiles and nods. “Yet you came anyway.”

Taiasu shrugs again, tapping his plate. “It’s only polite. Besides, you were buying,” he says, twirling around some more of the noodles and bringing the laden fork to his mouth.

He nods as the flavors permeate his palette. The sweet cream and peppermint dominate, yet complement the dish overall. He finishes it with a swallow of water before continuing.

“So… Let’s say you’re right, and you have my curiosity.”

He takes another bite, and uses it as a pretense to remain silent as he considers his next words, casting his gaze over the waters of the Rhotano.

“What is it you want me to do in this faraway place? This ‘Earth’?”

“Oh, nothing you wouldn’t have done if you’d found yourself there under any other circumstances, I assure you.” Watcher continues to smile as he lets some drag out.

Taiasu bristles against the evasiveness of the answer, snapping his attention back to the old man. He forces his current bite down with the rest of his water. A sharp frown cuts his expression, and his eyes narrow as he slams the empty cup on the table. Plates clatter a bit as a few of the nearer patrons startle.

“The hells that even mean?! Start talking sense!”

“Well, what is it you do, Mr. Adventurer?” Watcher gives no perceivable reaction, beyond his well-kept smile becoming more of a subtle smirk.

Taiasu’s frustrated frown softens and his mouth hangs slightly. “Wh-what…?”

What kind of dumb question…?

He takes in another breath and sighs it out before staring the old man in the face again. “What all adventurers do. I mean, ‘help that person’, ‘fight those things’, ‘find this stuff’.” He allows himself a brief smile. “Usually heartfelt gratitude as a reward. That’s often enough.”

His smile wavers.

This guy… already knows a lot about me… How much? Just what I’ve done here? Does he know about my time in The First Star?

A resigned sigh slips through his tightly pressed lips.

“Don’t misunderstand. Helping in a much bigger way has its moments.” He glances down and frowns. “After all, if Hydaelyn gets destroyed, that means all my friends, too. But sometimes the little guy gets overlooked if your focus is only on saving the world. I can appreciate something about being the little guy.”

His frown lifts into a smirk as his feet dangle a fair distance from the floor. “After all, the world is always doomed…” His smirk becomes a chuckle as he finishes his digression.

Watcher nods. “The shortest answer is that you can expect to do more of the same. But let us continue our discussion, yes? While I’m told your skills are up to the task, I wonder about your knowledge.” Watcher folds his hands in front of his face and rests his chin on his thumbs. “Tell me. What do you know of Aether?”

Taiasu shrugs, twirls some more noodles around his fork, and spears a piece of chicken. “I’m no authority, so about as much as most, I imagine. It’s everywhere, it’s needed for magic and to live, and the flashier things we adventurers do. It comes in varying forms, the most common being crystals, and I still have way too many of those.” He bites his fork and pulls it back clean. “Too much is a bad thing for most people, and it’s safest when well balanced. That’s called unaspected, I think?”

The man frowns, but nods. “Most people would swallow before talking. But you are correct. And you say you have many crystals?”

The small man rests his head in his hands for a moment as he smirks. “Yeah. I mean, every adventurer always does. Seriously, I don’t even know where they all come from most of the time.”

The man smiles and nods again. “And the three tiers?”

Taiasu lets his hands drop to the table’s surface. “Yeah, yeah. Clusters are the densest. Then your standard crystals are half as dense.” He reaches into his pack and pulls from it a small, aqueous colored crystal. “And shards like this are the lowest concentration. It takes twenty-five to match a standard crystal…” He returns the crystal to his pack and then stares at the man. “Why the hells are you asking me this crap?”

Watcher gives not but a dismissive shrug. “Only making sure you know what’s what. So there’s that, but now tell me, what do you know of the Echo?”

Taiasu’s eyes widen a bit. “I’m aware of it. You don’t get around without hearing about that. I mean, they established the entire Sharlayan Institute for the study of it.”

The man leans forward, elbow resting on the table and chin resting on his closed hand. “Very good. You’re aware of it. Now why not try answering my actual question. What do you know of it?”

The small man shrugs. “Not a lot… Minfilia Warde…” His gaze casts downward, and he swallows hard as her name catches in his throat. “The former leader of the Scions of the Seventh Dawn… I was told she had one. Also, that it’s different for everyone. Some say the Echo can allow one to transcend even death. I saw this Sahagin Priest get gunned down. Then he used it to move his essence into another nearby Sahagin.”

Watcher nods again. “Yes, during the Leviathan Incident. Tell me, do you understand the threads of commonality?”

Taiasu looks up, tilting his head. “Threads of what now?”

The man rubs his forehead and sighs. “You said each one is different, yes? Are you aware of what they have in common?”

“Oh, that. Use simpler words. Yes, I’m aware.” He holds up a hand to count them. “Each one can resonate with a person’s soul. When it does, it exposes a past event in that person’s life. Hells know with whom it will resonate, or when it happens, why it happens, or what it will show when it does…” He holds up a second and third finger. “It grants protection from Primal influences, so that’s useful. And it allows for a perfect comprehension of every language. Spoken and written, modern and dead.” He stabs another piece of chicken and brings it to his mouth. “This is fledgling adventurer stuff.”

The old man nods again, and then grins. “Yes, that matches well with what I’ve heard. Although I have to say, I wasn’t aware that Lalafell spoke fluent Moogle.”

The piece of half-chewed chicken falls from his mouth, bounces off his legs, and tumbles to the deck as Taiasu’s mouth goes slack. He stares at the old man’s face. A face split by a grin that can only belong to a cat that has just finished consuming the fattest canary.

“I know where I learned it, but from where did you learn it, hm?” Watcher asks, his knowing smile the widest the small man has ever seen.

Taiasu’s gaze casts to the ground and his jaw clenches tightly. “Damn it… You old bastard…”

Watcher laughs. “Yes, yes. I got you, right?”

“Yeah, fine. You got me. I have it. I have that stupid ‘gift’.” He sighs and stares at his plate. “It doesn’t much feel like one. I mean, hearing someone speak of their past is one thing. It can make you laugh and smile, or fume with anger.” His voice cracks, and he again swallows before continuing. “It can even make you mourn and weep… But living it… Seeing it… Being there, that’s something beyond compare. And I’m none too fond of the headache that always comes with it.”

He again looks up at the old man, catching his nod. As he does, that familiar yet frustrating sensation overwhelms him. The slight pain in his head that he knows will only grow, and a feeling that his mind is being forced from his body.

It happens every time the Echo resonates with someone.

* * *

The sights, sounds, and smells of the Bismarck fade, and the Echo shows Taiasu… nothing. Something in him tells him it’s resonating with this old man, but all he can see is darkness. The field of view is fuzzy and muddled, but beyond the haze is only blackness, like trying to view a darkened sky behind a thick layer of clouds.

What the hells is happening… It’s taken time before, but never this long…

Anxious uncertainty fills him as he waits for the Echo to show what it wants him to experience. Instead, the ‘vision’ fades, the Echo yields, and his senses again perceive the world around him.

* * *

It happened. Every sign is there. The tenseness, the shortness of breath, the slight throb in his head. The Echo has resonated. Every time the Echo has resonated, it has shown something. Even if it makes little sense. But here, in this moment, it hasn’t.

There was nothing. It’s shown nothing.

For whatever reason, when it tried to resonate with this old man, it failed.


	3. Prologue - What Makes a Hero (Conclusion)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Revised: 02/14/2021**

Taiasu flies back from his chair, and his katana is from its sheath before his feet have even touched the ground. His every muscle fiber is wound and ready to snap in a second. He snarls like a cornered animal.

"What the hells are you, old man?"

"Um… honored guest? I am sorry, but we do not permit weapons out at this establishment."

The nervous, distracting voice of a server digs into his ears. The stares of several uncomfortable guests press upon him. Taiasu offers no response. His eyes are glued to the old man. Something about him now makes less sense than anything he's ever seen in his entire time adventuring.

In his experience, bad usually followed strange.

"Sir?"

He snaps his head around with a glare that could cut steel, his katana ready to strike at the slightest provocation. The server freezes, seeing something terrifying in the eyes behind that glare.

_"HEE!"_

As his fear response engages, the server lets out a yelp and his empty tray falls to the ground. It clatters loudly as it bounces to a rest against the wooden floor, the only sound that passes through the air which has grown heavy and thick with tension.

Taiasu's eyes follow the tray as it stops at the man's feet, clearly reflected in the polished exterior of his black dress shoes. His eyes trace upward to the black slacks, past the long-sleeved red dress shirt, and come to rest on the man's face, which has gone solid white.

Seeing this, Taiasu's expression eases slightly as his bared teeth slowly recede. His leather glove groans in response to the vice of his grip, and he drops his gaze to the hilt of the sword clenched in his hand. The glove draws in his eyes. Vivid red. Like the blood of this man in front of him.

Innocent blood that he had been moments away from shedding.

_Right. This isn't a battlefield._

Taiasu opens his mouth and draws in a full and deep breath, exhaling over several seconds to force his body to catch up with his mind. With two more such breaths, his heart rate returns to normal, and with great care, he returns the sword to its sheath. His face remains a soft shade of red from his body's recent state of being and in part from the embarrassment that he'd let himself lose control like that.

His calm does little to ease the air. Eyes still focus on him, mouths remain slack, and forks, spoons, and various other cutlery stay suspended in the air by the stunned hands still holding them.

He kneels to the ground, already not far away, and picks up the dropped tray, extending it to the server, while lowering his head.

"Sorry for that…" he mutters, gaze fixed firmly at the floor.

The server hesitates. Then, seeing that the guest is not about to perforate him, he extends a trembling hand out, and takes the tray in his grip while returning the bowing gesture.

"N-n-n-not at all. I-i-i-is everything to your l-l-l-liking? W-w-were there any p-p-problems?"

His hand which had been holding his sword clenches and relaxes a few times, as he glances to the one who triggered this reaction from the Echo.

_I'm not sure…_

Taiasu turns back to the still-trembling service worker.

"Ah, no. Everything's fine." He reaches into his pack and brings out a small quantity of gil. "Please take this. For your troubles…"

He tries to hand it to the man, who's colorless face goes slack as he attempts a few times to form words with his lips.

"S-sir?"

"No, it's only proper. I can't leave here feeling well about this until I make it right." His head tilts back as he traces a path with his eyes from the floor to the man's face.

"Please."

The server takes in a breath of his own, forcing his hand still, as he reaches out to accept the gesture, careful not to drop a single coin.

"Y-you're an adventurer, then?"

He nods. "Yeah… I just…" Taiasu's gaze falls to the ground again as he racks his brain, trying to think of a way to explain what doubtless had this man's life flashing before his eyes.

"Reacted badly to a flashback, I guess…"

From the south, he hears the approach of a series of frantic, rapid footsteps.

_Here we go…_

A man and two women approach. Each clad in a long, red jacket, tall red cap and dark leggings. The man wears a pair of dark slacks. The standard issue uniform for the Maelstrom Guard, the ever-vigilant enforcers of law and order in Limsa Lominsa.

Taiasu unfastens his now sheathed sword from his waist and takes a few steps forward to meet them as the server takes a few steps back.

"We had word that someone drew a weapon, and that there was an altercation!" one of the two women, a Storm Captain and the ranking officer says, speaking with authority.

"That was me… No altercation, but yeah…" Taiasu sighs and his shoulders slump. "I drew my sword." He approaches slowly, blade in sheath, and yields it to her.

The woman nods and takes his weapon by the scabbard. "Understood. I see you're familiar with procedure."

"Not my first go-around, I'm afraid," he says, a deep frown cutting into his child-like features.

The woman nods. "Thank you for your cooperation. We'll detain you here until we've concluded our investigation and confirmed the veracity of your story."

Taiasu sighs again.

_That's a lot to say 'Don't go anywhere until we've talked to everyone.'_

He waits silently while the other two guards question the few people who remained to finish their food. They finish with the patrons, and move on to the server who, over that time, has steadied himself and regained some color in his face. Taiasu listens keenly to what the server has to say.

"It… wasn't that big of a deal… I was just surprised, is all… There's no need for this."

"No, there is," Taiasu says, narrowing his eyes. "Rule of law only matters if it's enforced, so tell them what happened, and leave nothing out." He eyes the server, and the server glances back at him. His pained expression is that of a man being ordered to keel haul someone.

The server nods, then tells the entire story. The leaping from the chair, the drawing of the sword, the head-turn, his thoughts that the small man was moments away from putting him to death on the spot, the subsequent de-escalation, and even his having accepted the gil.

As told, he leaves nothing out.

Taiasu smiles and nods. "Thank you. This man suffered the most, so please consider his statement—"

"What is going on here?"

Another authoritative voice cuts into the conversation. A tall, pale, silver-haired woman wearing a black jacket and suit pants marches toward the scene with a gait like she has every drop of authority her voice would suggest.

"Admiral!" The Storm Captain addresses her first, and the Maelstrom Guards turn and stand at attention, offering a salute. "We have things well in hand. This man is under investigation for causing a disturbance. We were told he assaulted this server and we—"

Taiasu approaches her, offering his own brief salute.

The woman glances at him, then back up at the captain and sighs, giving a soft head-shake.

"I am familiar with procedure, captain, and I have noted your diligence."

She kneels down, bringing herself to eye level with the small man.

"Only back a few days, and you're already causing a ruckus. Care to tell your side, Taiasu?"

He frowns, and his stare drops. "It's stupid… I had a sort of… flash-back and freaked out." He wrings his hands "They're right. I could have hurt the guy."

The tall woman rubs her face, smiling. "Is that all?"

His eyes widen, and he snaps his gaze to her from the ground. "Isn't that enough? It could have ended bad!"

She laughs. "Yes, but it didn't. I'd like to think you meant no harm. Unless you've taken to wanton murder during your absence?"

His mouth flaps a few times, but he fails to find his voice.

She chuckles for a few moments more. Then, after standing to her impressive height, she motions to the 'victim' in question, and he shuffles over.

"Did this man speak the truth?" the Admiral asks, her friendly demeanor dissolving into a standard business-like professionalism.

The server seems to hesitate, but he catches the eye of the man in question, who smiles and nods.

He blinks a few times, but then nods as well. "Y-yes… He was eating with that man…" The server points to the old man, who had been observing the entire situation with rapt attention. "Then he flew from his chair, and… his sword was out so fast. I've never seen anything like it. I told him the rules, that we don't permit weapons drawn, and then he looked at me and… I think I peed a little…"

Taiasu stares back at the ground and his brow tightens as he reaches into his pack again, but the Admiral extends her hand to the side, stopping him.

"Yes. Go on."

"A-anyroad… I dropped the tray. Then he… well, he put his sword away, and apologized and even gave me this." He takes out the coins he'd accepted.

"He insisted."

The pale woman sighs again, rubbing her forehead. "You didn't mention bribery, Taiasu."

His head snaps up again, and his mouth hangs slack for a moment. "M-Meryl! It wasn't a bribe! I almost had the poor man spiked and ready for the grill like a Miq'abob! It was all I could think to make it right!"

The tall woman, Admiral Merylwyb Bloefhiswyn, laughs. "Yes, but you stayed your blade. And then you gave the 'poor man' something for his troubles." She shakes her head. "Some things never change…" She turns her attention to the officers. "This man committed no crime. Conclude your investigation and be on your way. And return his weapon."

"Admiral, but we can't—" the Storm Captain speaks out, but stops on catching the Admiral's hardened glare.

With two decisive strides, she places herself in front of her subordinate and glares down at her with a practiced, steely expression.

"I'm sorry. Were you about to question my order?"

The Storm Captain snaps again to attention. "No, sir!"

Meryl's expression softens. "Good. If we jailed every adventurer who drew their blade in a fit, there'd be no room for _actual_ criminals."

The Storm Captain returns Taiasu's weapon. As he fastens it to his waist, the other female guard approaches the server.

"I'll need to seize that." She reaches for the coins in his hand. "As evidence."

"Evidence of what?" Taiasu says, his eyes narrowing.

The woman glares down at him. "Be about your business. This is protocol."

Meryl turns and takes a few steps away. As she does, he hears her muttering something about 'too much paperwork'.

"The hells it is, Lieutenant," the small man says, arms folded across his chest. "I'm a Flame Captain. I _know_ protocol." He juts his finger at her. "This—" He points to the coins in the server's hands "—was given in reparation for a hostile act after the incident in question had concluded. Even if there were a crime, which the Admiral… whether or not I agree.. has said is not the case, this would not be, as you claim, evidence of any sort."

The woman sneers. "Were we in Ul'dah, your words may carry weight, but here the Maelstrom Guard—"

"So that's how you want to play it? Fine." Taiasu's expression is cut by his sharp scowl. "I don't know if you noticed, but I'm pretty chummy with the Admiral. I'm not super happy with it, but if you don't stop harassing this man, I'll call in every favor to have you demoted and swabbing decks before you could even finish counting those coins."

"Y-you can't—" The young woman's eyes go wide as she steps back, her contemptuous smirk dissolving in moments, while he only narrows his eyes sharply as they lock onto hers.

"Try me."

"Kh… gh…" The woman grinds her teeth for a moment before performing a sharp about face, stiffly marching away while grumbling under her breath.

The server sighs with relief and returns the coins to his inner pocket.

"T-thank you…" he mumbles, once the Lieutenant is out of ear-shot.

Meryl approaches them with a smirk. "We're chummy?"

The small man looks up at her, taking a few steps back to meet her stare with a smile. "Well, I thought we were. Was I wrong?"

She laughs. "Alright, everyone. Everything is as it should be. Please enjoy your meals."

He makes his way toward the table as the server returns to the kitchen, untying his apron and wiping his damp brown.

She follows to the table and gestures at the old man, whose eye's youthful glint knocks a few years off.

"So, who is this person, then?"

He glances toward him and then back up at Meryl. "A prospective client. He's trying to entice me with another grand adventure… Until that mess, he was doing a bit of a good job, too."

She chuckles. "About to be off again, already? Do you ever settle down?"

He sighs and rubs his forehead, looking back down for a second. "I was planning on a brief rest, but…" He glances up at her with another warm smile. "Well, your first love is the sea. You know how it is."

She returns his warm smile with her own while looking over the table.

"I do. So what's good today?"

Taiasu reclaims his seat at the table, ignoring the old man for the moment.

"The fettuccine isn't bad." He spins some around his fork and chomps down on it, his face painted by a disappointed frown point before the fork leaves his mouth.

"Aw, man. It got cold…"

"Perhaps I'll stop by later and enjoy some. On your recommendation, of course."

"Sure, just don't get distracted from it."

Meryl leans down. "It's good to see you again. But please try to stay out of trouble."

"I'll try. See ya, Meryl! Oh, and thanks for the help back there."

She nods, and with that, her impressive stride takes her away from the Bismarck's eating area.

"You two seem friendly," Watcher says.

Taiasu stares at his food, poking it and frowning. "The Admiral? We go back a bit. She's the one who shot that Sahagin. There's a small bit of history. I'm not sure we're friends, but maybe close acquaintances?" He smiles softly. "I'm glad she was kind enough to smooth over that mess."

Watcher nods. "Yes, it can pay to have friends… I'm sorry, 'close acquaintances', in high places. Our mutual contact never told me you suffer from flashbacks, though."

Taiasu's fork falls from his hand and clatters against the plate.

_That's right. With everything between then and now, I'd forgotten. The Echo failed to read this guy._

His smile disappears, his eyes narrow, and he pierces the man with his glare.

"Thanks for the reminder. Now, old man, I want an answer," he says, his voice just loud enough to be heard across the table. "Tell me what the hells you are."

Watcher arches his brow and tilts his head. "Whatever do you mean?"

The small man continues to glare.

_I can't read him properly… If he's wearing a facade, it's a damn good one. All I know is the Echo failed. Before that, he'd been odd. But I haven't picked up on anything nefarious from the guy._

Taiasu heaves another sigh.

_I'm still not happy with this. It's a huge unknown, and I don't enjoy unknowns. I bet the Sharlayan Institute would love to get their hands on him… Is he blocking it somehow?_

His eyes slide closed.

_Does he even know? Whatever he is, he's not boring. Evasive, strange, and he knows more than he's telling…_

They drift open again, and his sharp frown softens as his eyes return to their normal, relaxed state.

_But he's not boring._

Taiasu shakes his head as some new patrons are shown to their seats at the vacant tables nearby.

"Nothing… forget it."

The man shrugs. "If you're certain. I have to say, that was an impressive display back there. Not everyone speaks back to a person of authority."

"That was extortion **.** " His soft frown sharpens once more. "I hate when people try to exploit others. I think Meryl might just have her swabbing decks, regardless…"

"And the way you handled things with that poor server was interesting as well. Do you always pay off the people you scare half to death?" Watcher grins, and Taiasu's sputters for a second.

"I wasn't paying him off! You screw up, you make it right! That's… not how it goes all the time… But that's how it should!" The flat of his fist hits the table. "I can't go back and stop myself from terrorizing him, so the least I can do is offer compensation. I just hope he can use that money to make this entire experience nothing but a bad memory."

"Yes, and he'll probably find his relief at the bottom of a glass," Watcher says, smirking as he closes his eyes and nods. "Still, I knew you were the right person for this task."

Taiasu's jaw slacks for a second. "You… You can't assume that based on what you saw here."

"Well, I believe I saw enough. Besides, it was me trying to convince you, yes? I did say that I _knew_ you were the right person for this task, after all."

* * *

Servers approach their table and clear their plates. Taiasu pouts and sighs as his cold fettuccine is carried away.[1]

"So, you were saying. Helping people, fighting, finding things—this job will be more of that?" he mutters distractedly as his uneaten food vanishes from view.

Watcher nods and smiles. "That and more. I promise you this; the satisfaction you'll gain from your time in this place will outweigh any anxiety you may feel right now."

Taiasu's head turns to the man and his eyes narrow as he scrutinizes his still prospective client. "So what do you get out of this, Watcher?"

The man laughs. "Oh, I thrive on the experiences of others, my dear boy. I promise you I'll be watching you on this new adventure with a very invested interest."

The man's words evoke from him a stiff shudder. "That's… kind of creepy. Oh, I get it. That's why you told me to call you 'Watcher'." He sighs again. "So how long are we talking here? Days? Weeks? Longer?"

The old man only shrugs. "That depends on you."

"Hm…" His frown deepens as he rubs the side of his head.

"Alright… This is probably a really bad idea that I can only hope I'll live to regret, but… Your request does intrigue me. And it's not as if the world is ending right now. Not with that business on the First resolved, anyroad." Taiasu smirks. "Fine, old man, Mr. Watcher. I'll accept."

"Excellent!" the old man says, clapping his hands, his eyes shining, and looking years younger for his enthusiasm. A new server takes the order of a nearby table as the man reaches into his sleeve and pulls from it a small pouch. "There is something I'll be leaving with you."

"Money? I don't need your money, old man," Taiasu says, waving him off.

The old man shakes his head. "No, though you're right. Where you're going, money won't be much of a concern for you. But this does not contain money." He rustles the bag, and from inside Taiasu can hear a soft clattering.

He stares at the unremarkable cloth sack. "Okay, I'll bite. What's in the bag?"

"Soulanchor Stones."

"Eh? Never heard of 'em. What do they do?"

"It would surprise me if you had. Much as I am, they're not of this world. As for their purpose… Well, let's just say, you're going to meet some very special people in this faraway place to which I'm sending you, and the stones will serve a very special purpose for them."

Taiasu sighs. "More cryptic nonsense? You're trying my patience, old man…"

Still, he takes the bag, opens it and peers within, finding several stones, each indistinct from the other with none larger than an orb of Materia.

_Weird…_

Each glows with a soft, off-white light that pulses at regular intervals.

_Really weird… What even am I doing this for… Am I that bored?_

He smirks. "Stupid question… I'm always bored."

"Hm?" The old man glances at him.

"Nothing. Just talking to myself…" he says, shaking his head.

He fastens the pouch to his belt. "I can't believe I'm doing this. I must have suffered a serious blow to the head… Alphinaud or Urianger will have to check me over when…? Wait…" He gives Watcher a hard stare. "What do you mean you're 'not of this world'?"

The man laughs. "Is it so surprising? Having been to another yourself, are you so surprised?"

"No… well, yes… but… no…" He frowns and clasps his hands together over his face. "You seem to know a lot about me, old man…"

"Well, why wouldn't I!" he says with another laugh. "After all, your quite famous for your expl—"

Taiasu lunges across the table and claps his hand over the man's mouth.

"Shut up! I get it, just shut up!" he hisses.

* * *

The sun hangs low in the sky as they both stand, ready to formalize their agreement. Taiasu scuffs the ground with his foot and stares at the mark it leaves. Watcher glances toward him, arching his brow.

"Having doubts?"

He nods. "I'd be an idiot to not have doubts about this… But if I let things of that sort stop me, I'd still be in the First, along with everyone else."

"Steel your resolve, young man." Watcher says with a soft smile. "I promise, you're more than skilled enough for any of the challenges that await you. Nothing I told you is a lie."

He frowns, rubbing his forehead. "Yeah, I'll bet. Kind of hard to lie when you haven't really told me anything."

He sighs, then clenches his hand into a tightened fist, and his expression sharpens.

"Whatever. In for a gil, in for a ransom. So how do I get to this faraway place? Am I taking an airship, or is there a portal?"

"You are very certain then?" Watcher's words and tone carry an air of finality. "This is your last chance to reconsider."

Taiasu stares hard at the floor for a moment, his eyes closing as his eyebrows press tightly inward.

_Am I sure…? Like he said, I can just hand these stupid rocks back and walk away… I've faced the unknown before, that's not new. It'll happen again, that's a certainty as well… This is a chance to get away for a bit, see some place new. Meet new people… Get back to just good old-fashioned adventuring again._

He smiles and opens his eyes as his expression relaxes.

_I'd feel like I'd be a fool to refuse._

"Yeah. I'm certain, old man," he says, holding out his hand.

"You won't regret it, Warrior of Light. Oh, and a bit of parting advice—keep a low profile, and follow the red-head." The old man says, smiling as he clasps Taiasu's outstretched hand.

"Huh? Red-head…?"

The unarticulated question remains hanging in the air. As their hands meet, the world around him shifts, and in less time than it would take to blink, he's swept away.

The adventure has begun.


	4. Crimson and Lavender

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Revised: 02/14/2021**

The transference is brief. Faster than any Taiasu has ever experienced moving between any of the aetheryte crystals to which he'd attuned. Dare he say, instantaneous, and not without complication. As soon as he finishes materializing, intense pain wracks his form, knocking him to the ground and stealing the air from his lungs.

Not the most dignified arrival.

On the ground with no time to even consider what is happening, he ransacks his belongings for something that might help.

_Potion, no wounds, Phoenix Tailfeather, not unconscious, Water Crystal shard, that's…?_

Minutes away from losing consciousness, he throws each useless item aside. The nondescript glass bottle shatters against a building not a meter away, a building he hadn't even noticed, and the contents of the broken bottle vaporize. The vibrant red feather floats to the ground for lack of wind. Moments from tossing away the crystal shard, he finds something unusual. Shortly after he touches the aspected crystal, he can sense the aether from it flowing into his body.

_Okay, that's new._

He hesitates and watches as the color from it fades. As it does, his body's distressed state lessens.

_… What? It's the aether?_

He watches as the light dims from the small water aspected crystal. As the last wisps dissipate, he allows the inert shard to tumble from his hand where it rolls a small distance away.

_That's great. I won't die now, but it's still aspected… I need to balance it out._

He rushes to find and bring out 5 more crystal shards; one aspected to fire, lightning, ice, earth, and wind. One by one, he holds each and the process repeats. As the light from the final crystal shard fades, he can feel his consciousness becoming steady, and his anxieties about falling over dead before this new quest has even begun fade into the back of his mind.

_Still… That's going to be a problem. I've got plenty, but I'll need a more permanent solution to this._

He muses for a few moments while trying to calm down after being the closest he's ever been to death by environment.

_Strange… I know places on Hydaelyn with devastated aethereal balances, but it's never almost killed me as soon as I arrived…_

No longer seconds away from a humiliating death, Taiasu takes the chance to consider his surroundings.

_Dawn…? It was evening. Did he send me to the other side of the planet? Okay, so some trees, a house, this big yard with a wall, and… this building…_

A few trees in the yard stand beside the well-constructed building against which the potion bottle had shattered. The yard itself is broad and spacious, with a few shrubs and bushes and a tall and solid wall running the perimeter. The grass of the yard is well kept, though there are a few places where time has worn it thin. Dominating the yard is a traditional Eastern-styled house with a multi-tiered, shallow-sloped roof. Many windows expose the outer hall, and a glass door leads in from the yard.

_Wait, what's that?_

He catches some motion from the house.

_Oh damn._

The motion belongs to something on the other side of a glass door leading into the house. He can see a figure seconds away from opening that door and blowing away every chance he has of 'keeping a low profile'.

Unless, of course, they have already seen him. Glass tends to work both ways, after all.

Unthinking and still reeling from his near-death experience not two minutes after arriving in this new place, he shoves open the door of the nearby building, charges in, and slams it closed behind him, cringing as it groans closed. His eyes then fall on something and he freezes. Even his brain locks up.

_Damn it, there was someone here, too!?_

There is little time afforded to give consideration to anything else within the small room, as another person laying on the floor of this building seizes the bulk of his focus. He notices this as the first of two things before the light that flooded the room fades altogether.

The second forces his brain to re-engage.

_Red… Follow the red-head—oh, COME ON! THIS IS LIKE BEING PUSHED OFF A CLIFF ON A CHOCOBO THAT'S NOT EVEN LEARNED HOW TO FLY!_

The form on the floor, a boy with striking, rough-cut red hair, is rolling over.

_Okay, he's awake. Damn everything._

Proper frustration is not a luxury for which Taiasu has time as he searches his ill-lit surroundings. His eyes fall to an ornate, brown dresser with several drawers, all closed, standing just far enough away from the wall behind it.

_That works._

With a breath of silent gratitude, he darts into the space between the dresser and wall, slipping into the shadows therein, and taking a few seconds to breathe.

A few.

Another sound, the soft groan of the door opening, shatters this hard-earned moment's peace, forcing him to bite back a swear.

He peeks out from his improvised hiding space and sees the 'red-head', still enjoying his rest. As his eyes then move toward the source of the sound, the door that has just finished opening, the added light from said unobstructed doorway allows him to better observe the immediate vicinity. Besides the dresser concealing him, he can make out the closed drawers of some more cabinetry, several well-constructed shelves, each occupied to capacity with boxes, papers, and various mundane constructs Taiasu is unable to properly identify. The floor is composed of plain, smooth cement, and on it is a large blue tarp, upon which rests a small, open tool chest, a spanner, two small closed chests, and another large, mundane construct which he is unable to purpose.

A cluttered space, clearly the sign of a cluttered mind.

His sweeping gaze takes in the information in a second before focusing on the one who opened the door and is now stepping into the room. A girl with shoulder-length purple hair and bangs, hanging just below her eyebrows. She wears her hair tied back behind her left ear with a red ribbon, and her purple eyes are identical in shade to her hair.

_Purple hair…? That's… new. Not bad, though._

She wears a long-sleeved white dress shirt with red accents at the collar and cuffs, and a red student's tie with beige accents. Her long dark skirt hangs a few centimeters above her feet. The beige vest she wears over her shirt completes her ensemble.

There is plenty more to her fair appearance, but his flustered brain can only summarize it with a simple thought.

_She's… really pretty._

As she kneels down, her long dark skirt brushes against the floor.

The girl speaks a gentle greeting to the boy slumbering on the floor. Thanks to the Echo, Taiasu can comprehend her words, despite having never even heard the language she is speaking.

"Senpai, are you awake?" Her left hand reaches up and brushes lightly against her ear, near where the ribbon holds back her hair.

She addresses the person not by name, but by title.

Awake, but groggy, the boy speaks his greeting in return. "Good morning, Sakura."

_Sakura… So that's her name…_

Taiasu makes a mental note.

Just as he does so, that oh-so-familiar sensation he loathes so well swells up in his head.

_It Never… Ends…_

As he gripes to himself, he takes a step back, and attempts to plant himself on the floor in case he might fall over from the Echo seizing his faculties.

* * *

He can see two young girls, both with dark brown hair.

One has eyes that are the piercing color of cut and polished larimar. She wears the back of her hair long and loose, where it reaches the small of her back, and the sides are bound up in two long loose bunches with red hair ribbons.

The other girl's eyes are aqua colored. Though that and the hair are different, Taiasu can recognize her as the girl with whom the Echo is resonating.

The girl with the purple hair.

Everything else is out of focus and indistinct. It's difficult to tell what the two are wearing, or even the surroundings, as the scene plays out, but their faces come through with vivid clarity.

They seem close, and the one with the larimar eyes unties one of her ribbons, and hands it to the other girl who holds it close to her chest.

_Why is everything so screwed? It's never been like this._

Then something takes the girl holding the ribbon away.

Somewhere far away from the other girl with the piercing larimar eyes.

_This is abstract… That's never happened before. It's always been concrete. It's always been a literal thing that happened in the person's past…_

* * *

Taiasu comes out of the vision and shakes his head before standing up and peeking around the corner to continue his observations. The thought still sticks in his mind.

_Why would it be abstract?_

"It's no problem at all. You always wake up so early, so I can only come and wake you up like this occasionally," the girl with the purple eyes says.

Those eyes shine, highlighting her delicate smile.

"I don't think that's true. You wake me up a lot, right? Though, Fuji-nee is pretty mean about it… I still have bruises from the last time, so I prefer this. Still, I'll try harder next time." The boy returns an awkward smile of his own.

"All right. But I'm happier when you don't try."

She giggles, still brushing her hand against her ear.

It clicks like a lock tumbler.

_Okay, I'm stupid, but this is just… This is way too obvious. She likes… She loves whoever this guy is. Not like a brother, either. If it's so obvious to me after… five seconds, it should be obvious to anyone with half a brain._

Taiasu frowns.

_Is it even okay for me to be seeing this? It feels almost… intimate._

He pulls his gaze to the floor, but before he is aware, it has again drifted back toward the scene playing out before him.

The boy heaves an exhausted sigh. "I'll get up… Just give me a second…"

_He has to know… It's so obvious. Anyone with eyes, ears, and a working brain could tell! Or he knows, and he's just trying to ignore it…_

A few moments of silence pass as the boy seems to have drifted off again.

Still watching, the girl tilts her head. "Senpai?"

"Eh? Ah, sorry. I'm awake…" He fights back a yawn. "I guess I nodded off again… I'll help with breakfast as thanks."

"It's okay. You were up late, right? I'll take care of breakfast, so don't worry about that." The girl continues to watch and her smile grows brighter with every moment that passes.

The boy shakes his head. "I can't let you do that. I'm getting up right now, so wait and we'll go together." His voice carries more energy than a few moments ago as he sits upright and then pulls himself to his feet.

"All right. I'm ready, so let's go."

The girl's smile dips as she looks down and away, turning a light shade of red.

"Ah… Senpai?"

"Hm? Something wrong?"

"No, it's nothing but… I think you should change before you go back to the house." Her eyes trace a path to the boy's face.

He freezes for a moment, then looks down at himself and what he's wearing, a white shirt and a pair of dirty but otherwise nondescript overalls, and sighs.

"Guess I'm still not fully awake yet…"

"Seems so. You can rest some more. I'll take care of breakfast." She smiles softly as she glances at the miscellany scattered about the room. "And you know, if you let this place stay a mess, Fujimura-sensei will be upset with you.."

"You're right… I'll be inside after I get changed, so go on ahead."

The last webs of sleep seem to have fallen from the boy's mind, and his voice picks up a few more notches. The girl nods and smiles with her entire face.

"Yes, I'll be waiting, Senpai."

Shortly after she steps outside, they can hear her give a slight yelp followed by something soft hitting the ground.

"Sakura!" the boy yells, rushing out after her.

Taiasu seizes the initiative.

_I hope she's not hurt, but… I can't let this go to waste. Still, what if it drains like those shards did?_

_That might make me explode._

He shudders, but takes in a deep breath before bringing from his pack a small, obsidian colored crystal with a red swirl in the center. As he closes his eyes and his hand around it, a flash of light illuminates the room, and the air shakes around him.

As he attunes himself to the stone in that encompassing sound and light, the vast stores of knowledge contained within open to him. Generations of knowledge of the ways of the Shinobi. Powerful, destructive ninjutsu, and the means to perform them. The ways of the blades they employ to carry out their clandestine assassinations. Their unparalleled prowess in moving about in the bright of day and the dead of night, unknown and unseen by all but the most keen sensed observers.

The light persists for but a moment as his armor and weapon vanish, returning to the space where all adventurers from Hydaelyn keep such things.

Before the light has faded, in their place can be found something more appropriate for the knowledge and set of skills to which he has just opened his mind.

Where the Katana was, are now two sheathed kodachi fastened to his waist; a matched set, one at his left side, and one at his right. Where there was a fine suit of showy, red leather armor, gloves, boots and pants is now a much darker and more distinct set of attire, and a like-colored mask conceals his entire face but for his eyes.

The light and sound from the change are brief, and the boy outside, if he even notices, has his attention held by something more important at the moment.

Taiasu heaves a relieved sigh.

_Didn't explode. That's good…_

He stares at the crystal for a moment before putting it away.

For want of words, the small man conceals his presence. As he does, he feels his aether reserves take a hit. A small one, but it's still noticeable.

_Okay, that's going to be a problem._

Even as he considers it, he can feel them draining.

_Yeah, big problem. Well… all my problems are big problems._

He smirks inwardly at his bad joke as he moves through the shadows, invisible to all but the keenest of eyes. The stealth afforded comes at a cost in that he can't move as fast as he'd desire, but since he's imperceptible, it's of little concern. Besides, it only makes sense.

You don't run if you're trying to be sneaky.

He steps through the door, and he can see the boy with red hair helping the girl with purple hair to her feet.

"Who left this junk here…?" the boy says, looking down and scratching the back of his head.

The girl stares at the entrance to the shed, her eyes quite wide.

"I don't know, but did you see that?"

"See what?" The boy turns to look.

"That light—Ah!"

As she gestures toward the door, she stumbles again.

Taiasu sees what's stumbling her and palms his face. The inert crystal shards he'd left lying around as he'd rushed to hide himself are now a bit of a fall hazard.

Without thinking, the boy moves in, pressing his right hand into the delicate small of the girl's back. With the girl leaning into his hand, it looks like they're in the middle of an awkward dance.

In a second, the both of them go hard-red, and Taiasu's face warms with a soft smile.

_My good deed for the day, maybe?_

The boy steadies her on her feet before taking a few swift steps back.

"Sorry…" he mumbles.

The girl folds her hands at her waist in front of her, staring hard at the ground.

"I-it's fine… Thank you."

The boy coughs and clears his throat. "What were you saying about a light?"

"Light?" The girl blinks a few times, tilting her head. "Sorry… I forgot…?"

"Oh… That's okay…" The boy shoots his gaze back to the ground.

Beneath his mask, what one might describe as the most delighted of grins splits Taiasu's face lengthwise.

_Oh gods, they're so_ _… ADORABLE! I wanna take 'em home with me!_

"Seriously, what even are these?" The boy leans down, picking up one of the several small round translucent objects scattered about. Small, round and ideal for helping an uninvited guest play the inadvertent wingman.

He frowns. "It's not glass… It's solid. Weird…"

He knocks his hand against the crystal shard, tosses it against the building and catches it, then drops it, and picks it up again.

It suffers no perceivable damage.

The girl's redness diminishes. "Senpai? You still need to change, right?"

His eyes widen. "Ugh, yeah! You're right, I don't have time for other people's junk!" He throws the spent shard in the shed, and kicks in the rest as well. Then his eyes fall to the feather, which he leans down and picks up.

_Oh, hells…_

Taiasu gripes at himself, his grin dissolving into a grimace.

The boy's eyes widen as he stares at it. "I've never even seen a bird with feathers like this…"

The girl leans in closer to examine it as well. "That's… beautiful."

He glances at her smiling expression. "Huh? You like it?"

She nods shyly, and he shrugs, handing it to her.

"Are… you sure it's okay?" She looks from the feather to the boy.

He nods. "I have enough—damn it, I got distracted again! Sorry, Sakura! Could you please start breakfast? I'll be in as soon as I get changed!"

The girl takes the feather and holds it close to her chest. The gesture evokes that abstract vision Taiasu had seen, where she'd done something similar with the red ribbon. Probably the same red ribbon that now adorns her lavender locks.

She smiles her gentle smile and makes her way inside the house while the boy enters the shed. The small man can hear him curse as he stumbles on one of the still-present inert crystal shards.

Hearing the boy hit the ground causes Taiasu to wince.


	5. Tailfeather

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Revised: 02/14/2021**

Still concealed, Taiasu stands outside the shed. He counts the seconds until he no longer needs to hide himself, feeling the drain with each passing moment as he waits for the red-headed lad to conclude his clothing change. A few minutes later, the boy comes out of the shed, wearing a dark-beige jacket and matching pants. He rubs his face as his yellow eyes attempt to adjust again to the light outside the shed.

He rubs his bruised backside and looks around a moment before his eyes narrow, spotting the fragments of the shattered potion bottle. "What's with all this…! Damn it, I don't have time, I'll clean it up later."

He frowns and makes his way toward his house, entering his residence, and letting the door bang closed behind him. Taiasu drops his concealment, and the instant he's visible, he can feel his aether become stable.

_Now I can finally think. I can't remember the last time things were so hectic…_

He allows himself a moment to breathe before making his way into the shed to collect the spent crystal shards, doing his part to reduce the clutter contained therein, and stepping outside again afterward. He looks to the shattered remnants of the potion bottle he'd tossed aside and collects as much of that as is reasonable before making his way to the trees by the side of the shed so he can gather his thoughts. Under the cover afforded, he plops down in a small patch of grass like an exhausted lump.

The morning air is refreshing, which helps to clear his head.

"Now let's see just how screwed I am," he mumbles to himself.

He frowns and groans as he looks down at his pack. "I don't even remember the last time I counted all these stupid things… And now I have to figure out how many complete sets I can make." He frowns sharply. "This sucks…"

He sighs and looks into his pack, and starts rifling through the contents, taking care to remove as little as possible. His brow furrows sharply as he gets the count of the number of each shard. "Alright… then with that many…" he looks at the ground, counting on his fingers. "There's enough for… Damn it!"

His forehead tightens as he nearly launches one of shards over the surrounding wall before beginning anew.

"Stupid crystals, stupid aether imbalance, stupid everything…"

* * *

Taiasu collapses backward in a heap and heaves an exhausted sigh.

"Finally!"

Figuring everything out takes a lot of effort, not aided by his tendency to become distracted by trivial matters. Now having completed the work, his expression relaxes, and his mouth turns upward in a fine smile.

"Okay… With everything, I could probably stay here for years… at least until things get heated…" His smile drops. "Things always get heated. Then aether corruption might be a problem… Unlikely, but I still need a more permanent fix for this."

He gauges the time taken to infuse himself with a single standard crystal.

"About… the same as it took with a shard. That's strange. I thought it would have taken longer."

He infuses himself with one each of the remaining 5 aspects and conceals himself again. This time, the hit to his aether is much softer, and the drain is almost imperceptible.

"Hm… Impossible to know how long, but much longer than shards."

He drops his concealment and makes a few more mental notes before he considers running a test with some clusters.

Briefly.

He shakes his head. "No… It's a limited resource. I should save it for when I need to fight… Though I doubt someone's going to let me sit down and hug these stupid things for as long as it takes. I'll have to use them before a fight." He rubs his head, trying to think. "Am I even going to have that much time before a fight?"

He frowns as his brow draws inward "Maybe when things get crazy, I should switch to clusters during the morning and day, and crystals during the evening? They're limited, but how long could I possibly be here? And there has to be a fix for this…"

He stands and stretches, then collects the few scattered crystals, shards and clusters he had removed from his pack. He takes special care to pick up his spent crystal casings.

"Glad I didn't need to pull out every single one of these… I'd be here forever."

With the crystal conundrum contained, Taiasu collapses backward again and exhales another relieved sigh, allowing his mind to wander again.

"That girl…"

He thinks back to the purple-haired girl, with whom the Echo had resonated, and the scene that had played out in the vision it had shown him. Then to her interaction with the boy in the shed. Then to how she had reacted when he kept her from falling.

The way she spoke, the way she smiled, the way she looked at the boy before he got up.

"I've seen it before, though never like that… I just hope she can be assertive about it."

Beyond that flimsy supposition, he works to draw a few more tangible conclusions.

_This is likely a residence, and that boy seems to live here._

He rubs his head. "That's it? That's all I have? Grr… This is _stupid_ …!"

His back still against the ground, Taiasu groans and flails his arms and legs against the grass for a few moments, evoking the imagery of a turtle trying to right itself. He smacks his head, trying to make his brain work. Nothing comes to mind.

He frowns sharply. "Fine. I'll just go scout the area, I guess."

After a short time circling the residence, he finds what he supposes to be the main entrance. "Okay, that's something at least."

He stations himself on the wall surrounding the residence.

_I can see anyone coming or going here… I have to ration my aether, so I guess I'll just stay out of sight._

After some time, the door opens, and a person steps out.

_Who's this…? She's young… but she's definitely older than those two._

His eyes scan this young woman, committing her brown hair and matching eyes to memory, and affixing a placeholder for her name. She wears a yellow shirt with black stripes, which evokes the image of a tiger. Over her shirt, she wears a plain, long dark green dress.

He watches as she departs, following her with his eyes as she makes her way up the road. The road itself is flanked on one side by a large retaining wall built into the hill, and on the other side in part by the wall running the perimeter of the residence of his unwitting host.

Not quite an hour passes and two more figures emerge.

_There they are… Alright._

He takes a breath, grits his teeth, and feels his aether dip as he conceals himself again.

_Never going to get used to that… Seriously, how come these people haven't dropped dead? Maybe they adapted? I can't imagine how…_

Taiasu makes his way down from atop the wall. He lands with ease and moves in closer to better hear what is being said.

"Senpai? Did you lock the back door?"

The girl has her hands folded in front of her and watches the boy as she asks.

He nods. "Yeah, I secured the bolt. Was there a problem?"

"Not at all. Then I'll lock the front door now. When will you be home today, Senpai?" Her expressions are more subdued, at least compared to what they had been earlier that morning.

"Maybe a bit later than usual," the boy says, shrugging. "What about yourself, Sakura?"

The girl smiles. "I'll be back at the usual time. I'll probably be here earlier than you, so I'll start getting dinner ready."

"Thanks, that'll be a big help." The boy nods again. "I'll try to come home early, too."

His eyes fall to the feather. With no place to keep it, the girl is still holding it by the hollow end, twirling it occasionally. Seeing it, the boy turns a light shade of red. The girl catches his expression, and her smile widens.

"It's really pretty… Thank you."

"Yeah… Let's hurry." He casts his gaze away from her, and up the road. "We'll need to if you're going to make morning practice."

The girl agrees, and with that, they're on their way.

Taiasu remains as close as their shadow. As they make their way, his gaze roams about the surrounding landscape. His eyes narrow as he looks around.

_Something's off… I can't place it._

A nearby bush rustles and he spins, hands on his weapons. A small, furry creature pokes its head out, looks around quickly, and darts back inside, its long and bushy tail twitching as it vanishes from sight.

_Just a squirrel… Wait… That's what it is._

He looks around for a few more times and frowns.

_No beasts. No roving fiends or monsters… That's what's off. How'd they manage that? Usually, it's only inside the city proper they can keep those sorts of things out…_

The boy and the girl continue moving through the residential section of town, and into the major part. They speak little, and on the occasion one catches the other's glance, they avert their eyes, going red as they do. As the small man continues in their shadow, his mind wanders.

_This is like that training way back when… Only I didn't have to worry about my skills sucking me dry. What even is it with this place? It's like it's far beyond an imbalance. It's like there's no aether at all._

Clad as he is, replete with what one could confuse for a very expensive, very realistic set of ninja cosplay, it's impossible not to remember the one who inspired him to learn how to walk the ways of the Shinobi.

_Yugiri… I hope she's well._

* * *

The two, plus one, arrive at their destination. A gated entrance to a large complex of several buildings, the furthest and largest being a four-story building with countless windows running the length of the side he can see, and a fence, the top of which angles inward, running the perimeter of the flat roof.

To the right of that building is a smaller two-story building. A two-story paned-glass window dominates the side facing him. The building closest to him is three stories tall with a moderately pitched roof. Each floor has an outer walkway with stairs connecting. A few trees and shrubs decorate the landscape, which is otherwise bereft of vegetation. A few people move about the open area, and each one appears to be about the same age as the two Taiasu has been shadowing.

"I'll see you at home," the boy says. "Have fun at practice."

The girl hesitates, her hands folded in front of her, still treating the feather with care. Her brows draw inward, and her smile weakens.

"Sakura…? Are you not feeling well?" The boy tilts his head, focusing her in his stare.

"… No, that's not it, but…" She slides her free hand toward her arm, pulling at her sleeve as she casts her gaze to the ground. "Um, would you like to come to the dojo?" Her gaze shifts back toward the boy as she awaits his response.

He seems to hesitate. "Sorry, I can't. Issei asked for me, so I have to go see him."

"… I see. Sorry for troubling you then." She presses her hands into her chest, holding the feather between and averting her gaze again. "I'll be going now. Please look forward to tonight's dinner."

She offers a shallow bow as an apology and forces out a small smile.

"I will, thanks," the boy says. "You should probably find some place for that, if you don't want it to get damaged."

He gestures to the feather, still in her hand.

As they separate, indecision tears at Taiasu. On the one hand, the old man's parting advice rings in his mind, yet…

_I should at least try to get that feather back… That girl seems to cherish it. I feel bad, but I can't just leave stuff like that lying around._

He watches the direction the boy leaves, making a mental note for later, and then follows the girl.

She enters a building reminiscent of the training dojos he's seen during his time, and on seeing the inside, he recognizes it to be so. Highly polished and well cared for reflective wood paneling comprises the floor, and the back of the building is wide open, leading to a well-manicured lawn. At the back of the lawn are a series of archery targets, with an overhanging structure designed to capture any errant arrows that might miss said targets. The roof of both buildings is dark and moderately pitched.

Exactly what one would expect from a traditional eastern dojo.

_Why would they be learning archery here, and not at the guild? I mean, I learned in Gridania. I didn't even know there were other places you could learn. This country must be far off the grid if they have to establish their own archery guild…_

The girl's countenance becomes lighter as she walks through the dojo. Taiasu spies another couple of girls sitting on the floor, one of whom is in the middle of standing up. As she turns, he can recognize her piercing larimar eyes as the same set of eyes he'd seen when the Echo had resonated that morning.

_She's older… But there's no mistaking those eyes. Or that hairstyle. She's the other girl._

His eyes fall to the one with whom she'd been conversing, and he can feel them widen as his chest tightens on seeing her hair.

_Ah! Red…! Wait… that's brownish red… Or reddish brown?_

"Good morning, captain," the purple-haired girl says, hands folded in front of her, still holding onto that feather.

"Ah, morning, Matou. Alone this morning?" the girl with the brownish-red hair says in reply, arms folded below her chest with a casual smile adorning her expression.

Taiasu frowns.

 _Matou… But Mr. Red called her 'Sakura'._ _What's that about…_

"… Yes. I'm sorry I couldn't be of help." Ms. Purple's brows press inward again, and she frowns softly.

Ms. Brown strokes her chin. "No helping it. If he doesn't want to, we can't force him…? Say…" Her eyes take in the feather in Ms. Purple's soft embrace. "That's new. I've never seen a feather like that."

Ms. Brown gestures to the feather, and Ms. Purple smiles again as her eyes shine a bit.

"Ah… Do you have someplace I can keep it safe?"

Ms. Brown thinks for a second, tapping her chin. "Your cubby should work, right? As long as you're careful not to put your shoes on it. I would be. That's a pretty feather…"

"Well, I'll be going," Ms. Larimar says, standing with her arms at her sides, wearing a soft smile. "I'll see you later, Mitsuzuri-san."

"Yeah, we'll see you, Tohsaka." Ms. Brown, Mitsuzuri, says, arms returned to their folded position.

"Thank you for coming, Tohsaka-senpai." Ms. Purple casts her gaze to Ms. Larimar as she bids her farewell.

"Thanks," Ms. Larimar, Tohsaka, says before leaning in closer. "Emiya-kun gave that to you, didn't he," she says, almost too quiet for Taiasu to pick up.

Ms. Purple turns red in a second. "H-how did…?"

Tohsaka gives a knowing smile. "Just a feeling. Take care of it, okay, Sakura?"

The small man grinds his teeth.

_Sakura? Matou? Which one…? Fine. Ms. Purple, then. Ms. Larimar must be 'Tohsaka', and Ms. Brown must be 'Mitsuzuri'. Then Mr. Red must be 'Emiya'._

Taiasu files these faces and names away in his mind in rapid succession.

Mitsuzuri leaves, and Ms. Purple stares at the feather for a few minutes more. She holds it between her fingers at the hollow end, rolling it between them, watching as the light catches it, reflecting off the vivid red hues that make up its overall color.

A loud slam shakes her from her daydream, and Taiasu snaps his attention to the source of the noise, reaching for his weapons on instinct.

The tall boy with blue hair and matching blue eyes he sees is far less threatening than warranted by his initial reaction. He wouldn't be unattractive except for his face being marred by a scowl and a frigid stare. His having slammed the door behind him after entering the archery range didn't earn him any points, either.

The newcomer glowers around for a few moments, and then hones in on Ms. Purple.

"Sakura! Why haven't you changed yet!" His voice echoes through the empty room.

Then his icy glare falls to the feather. The girl rushes to hide it, but Mr. Blue storms toward her, seizing her wrist.

"What, bringing junk into my…?"

Whatever he was about to say, he stops as he gets a closer look. Despite his rough and angry demeanor, it seems even he cannot help but admire the feather, if only for a moment.

He shakes his head. "Get rid of this garbage and go get changed now!"

He doesn't give her the chance to obey before snatching it from her hand.

She reflexively reaches out for it. "No, that's…!"

The boy glares at her and she goes quiet. Then his expression recasts into a knowing sneer.

"Ah… I see. You got this from Emiya. Of course, it's so obvious…"

Taiasu watches in silence, his face growing hot as his jaw tightens.

_Whoever this guy is… Maybe Mr. Bastard would be a better name._

His teeth remain clenched.

_I hate this. All I can do is watch, unless things escalate too far. I'll only keep a low profile for so long, old man._

"Please, Nii-san! Just…!"

The girl again reaches for the feather, but Mr. Bastard shoves her back.

"Get changed! I'll dispose of this properly."

Again, his voice reverberates through the empty dojo.

Her expression crushed, the girl submits and walks toward her cubby. She removes her shoes, kneels down, and takes from the cubby a set of clothing and another pair of shoes. She places the shoes she had just removed inside and shuffles off.

Taiasu can see her eyes welling up as she leaves.

"Humph." Mr. Bastard looks down at the feather. "Tch. Worthless garbage…?"

He snaps the feather at the center, but as soon as he releases it, it springs back into place. After trying to crumple it up like a wad of paper, it expands back outward again, looking only a little worse for wear.

"What is this, some sort of novelty toy?"

After throwing it to the ground, he stomps on it, grinding it into the floor before picking it up and throwing it into a small garbage can.

"Stupid junk…"

Taiasu seethes for a few moments as he waits for Mr. Bastard to leave.

_What a…_

He holds back on some of his more colorful descriptors of this person as he reaches into the garbage can to reclaim the feather.

 _Moron. It's infused with aether, you can't just_ …

He takes his own turn, considering it.

_I've seen so many, I never took the time to notice._

He rolls the feather between his fingers as he had seen Ms. Purple doing earlier.

_They are quite beautiful…_

He takes care to preen the feather as best he can, which proves to be sufficient.

_Good as new, yes? Well… maybe not, but it'll still function._

He takes a few steps toward the grass-covered field outside, then lets slip a soft sigh.

* * *

From a distance, Taiasu watches as Ms. Purple comes out of the changing room in her archery uniform. A modest white Gi, long black skirt and dark archery pad slung over her chest.

She wipes her eyes as she kneels in front of her cubby, clothes in hand.

A slight gasp escapes from between her lips as she drops her garments.

She reaches into her cubby, takes out the vivid red feather, her eyes darting around the room.

Affixed to it is a small, unsigned note—'Take care of this.'

Whatever concern she may have been feeling dissolves, and her forlorn expression transforms into something beaming. A few tears slip out and she wipes them away, smiling a radiant smile.

Taiasu smiles as well, and he slips from the dojo.


	6. Wanton Cruelty

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Revised: 02/14/2021**

Taiasu makes his way from the dojo with a lighter gait and a warm smile on his face, taking the direct route to the building he'd seen Emiya approaching; the largest of the three main buildings, and the furthest from the gated entrance. Four stories tall, with an abundance of windows circling each floor.

On arriving, his smile cracks and his eyes narrow.

_A door. Of course. Now what am I—!_

The door flies open, forcing him a few steps back.

_Oh, thank every…?_

He catches only a glimpse of the one pushing the door open. The one who'd first left the house earlier that morning. Before the moment passes, he steps through the now-open door.

_Now I just need to find…?_

Taiasu's eyes track to the girl, Tohsaka, that he'd seen in the dojo. She stands in front of a rather plain-looking young man wearing glasses, dressed the same as Emiya was when he'd left that morning. His hair is a lighter shade of blue than Mr. Bastard, and his eyes are the same shade of blue as his hair.

_What's with the hair and the eyes in this place?_

Taiasu tilts his head, blinking several times.

_Ms. Purple, Mr. Bastard, this guy, that teacher… Teacher?_

He'd have clapped his entire face with both hands, if the sound wouldn't have given him away.

_This is a school. Of COURSE it's a school…_

He sighs as he shakes his head.

_That explains so much. These aren't fledgling adventurers, they're students. That's why they're not learning archery at the guild! That's also why they're all so young, gods what's wrong with me… It also explains why that jerk wouldn't recognize a Phoenix Tailfeather when he saw one._

It seems his brain has finished processing something in the background that it should have known a while ago, and he can only continue shaking his head as he approaches for a listen to the two who stand and converse outside a nearby classroom.

_I suppose Mr. Red… er, Emiya, should be around here. I'll run into him soon enough._

"What are you planning, being here this early? You're not in any clubs, last I knew," the plain-looking man says, talking to Tohsaka. He stares at her, resting one hand in his pocket.

She shrugs. "I just felt like it."

The man's brow tightens, and his mouth curls in a small frown as he contemplates something. Then he crosses his arms, still staring at the girl.

"Tohsaka, have you been staying late after school recently?"

"Nope. I always go straight home. You should know that, Ryuudou-kun."

Taiasu makes a note of his name and face, slipping them together into the growing collection in his head.

Ryuudou's eyes narrow. "Naturally. It's my charge as the student council president. Of course, I know about such things."

The girl arches one eyebrow up. "So you say, but then why even ask? Shouldn't you be finding that out for yourself, instead of forcing it on others? You know, doing your own leg-work? Don't rely on outsiders like me."

Taiasu bites back a snicker.

_She's screwing with this guy. I thought that's what he_ was _doing…_

"Tch, and how are you an outsider? Don't think I missed how you manipulated our Treasurer, you sneak!"

The girl casually pushes her hair back. "You seem to misunderstand. I was just doing like Mitsuzuri-san asked and working out how much each club should receive. I think it's only right for students to take an interest in where their money is going."

The young man looks away, hands on his sides. "That's what you're saying? Our treasurer was out of commission for a week from whatever you did. Your way of doing things never fails to astonish me…"

Taiasu tilts his head.

_What did she do, pull his thumbnails out?_

"And what about you?" the girl says. "Maybe you should keep a better watch on your subordinates. Showing favoritism to the non-athletic clubs is just as unfair as the other way around."

"I know that. I had intended to deal with the matter myself—"

As Ryuudou defends his actions, the door to the classroom opens and Emiya, the boy with the red hair, steps out.

"Finished with that one, Issei," he says.

_Ah, there he… is… Oh, hells._

Taiasu can feel the onset of another Echo resonance event as soon as he sees the kid.

_I've never had one… trying to hide before… Couple of seconds, maybe? I do not want to find out if I can stay hidden through one of these like this._

With little time to think and less to act, he makes use of those seconds to move through the doorway with all the swiftness his still-hidden form can muster.

"Ah, watch it…! Huh?" Emiya yells at someone or something.

"What's wrong, Emiya?" Ryuudou asks.

"Eh? No… nothing, I just thought I saw something for a second. I must still be tired."

Past the door, Taiasu flattens himself against the nearest wall and slides to the floor as the Echo seizes his faculties.

* * *

He can see a young girl with piercing blue eyes like two polished larimar stones. She wears the back of her dark brown hair long and loose, where it reaches the small of her back, and the sides are bound up in two long loose bunches with red hair ribbons. Exactly the same style he'd seen the last time.

She wears a white dress shirt, and a long skirt that extends past her knees. Around the collar of her shirt, she wears a dark-colored tie. Not a business tie, but like what you might expect as part of a typical student's uniform. In her hands, she holds what appears to be a tome.

_She's that girl. She's older here, but they're the same person. That's Tohsaka._

A tall, older gentleman in a fine red business suit with rough-cut hair and a rough beard is kneeling down to the girl's level, and pressing his hand into her head in an awkward gesture of affection.

They stand outside the gate of a large mansion, on a well-kept path made from large cut slabs of stone leading from the gate to the main entrance.

"I'll have to get going now," the man says. "You know what to do, right?"

"Yes." the girl says. Her answer is brief, but polite.

The man 'pats' the girl's head a final time and stands up.

"Put the association in your debt by the time you're grown. You can decide what to do afterward. Carry out this much, and you should be able to care for yourself."

_I don't understand any of this…_ _Association…?_

* * *

As he leaves the vision, Taiasu shakes his head to ground himself.

_Okay… No clue what that was about, but I did learn something, at least…_

The aether drain has stopped, and he's visible again.

_If I'd waited any longer, I'd be doing way too much explaining._

He sighs and conceals himself again, feeling the minor hit and the drain return.

_Damn it… Still better than the alternative…_

He slips through the doorway of the room into which he'd ducked, and then behind Emiya and Ryuudou, who are still talking with the girl, Tohsaka.

With what has been happening, he's yet to give her proper consideration.

She looks not much different from her younger self. Taller, with the same piercing blue eyes, same long dark brown hair, and the same hairstyle. Time has matured her into a fair young woman and changed her taste in the color of her hair ribbons. Gone is the red he had seen, and instead she wears her hair bound in long, loose bunches on each side with two black ribbons. She wears split bangs that cover her forehead, but leave the center exposed, and stop just past her eyebrows.

Other than the long, red dress coat she wears, her outfit is the same as that which Ms. Purple was wearing when they left that morning; a long-sleeved white dress shirt with red accents around the collar and cuffs, a red student's tie with beige accents, a beige vest, and a long black skirt.

Lovely and well put together.

Taiasu's brain, ever the articulate blob, summarizes her image with a single thought.

_Hmm… She's pretty, too…_

He misses a part of the conversation, but it matters little as he listens in on the rest.

"Yeah, the AV room is next," Ryuudou says. "The heater there was on its last legs, but it looks like those legs collapsed, so it's dead now."

Emiya shakes his head. "I hope not. I can't fix it if it's dead. It'd be faster to buy a replacement."

"Well, dead to me. Maybe it's playing possum? Either way, I'm still hoping you might breathe life into it."

"No promises, but I'll see what I can do."

Tohsaka crosses her arms and wears a small frown, but remains quiet.

Ryuudou turns and walks toward Taiasu, who steps to the side to avoid being bumped.

Emiya turns around as well, and stops, glancing downward. He rubs his eyes and blinks several times, tilting his head as he stares right where Taiasu is standing in front of the door to the classroom he had just left.

The small man's eyes widen.

_Wait… He can't…_

Ninja stealth skills on Hydaelyn are the stuff of legend. They can hide most anywhere, and from most anything. It takes time to master. If a Ninja is trying to hide from the eyes of someone far more experienced, those eyes will make them in a second. And then there are the undeceivable eyes that will see regardless of how skilled one has become.

_I forgot that, but he can't… It's impossible! He's only a kid!_

Emiya rubs his eyes again, and Taiasu takes that chance to slip back into the classroom, pinning himself to the wall beside the doorway, behind the boy, and outside his field of view, where he watches with his breath held. When the kid looks back, he sighs and shakes his head.

"Definitely sleep deprived…" he mutters, taking a few steps forward before stopping again and turning around, causing the small man's heart to leap into his throat. He glances at the girl.

"You're up early, Tohsaka," he says, and then turns and follows Ryuudou.

With that, Taiasu swallows his heart back down into his chest and wipes his brow over his mask.

_Okay… Somehow, this kid can see me, and that's a problem… I'll have to stay out of his line of sight… That makes things complicated. Seriously, though… How is this even a thing right now?_

He remains as close as he deems safe, following the two.

* * *

It's a difficult thing to follow someone running when one cannot run themselves. This is the situation Taiasu faces, as both Ryuudou and Emiya run full tilt from the room they just left.

He had followed them both, and they had turned into another room. He'd elected to remain outside, and Ryuudou had as well. A short while later and both were sprinting to some destination unknown to him.

Taiasu quickly loses ground and is forced to track them from a distance as they make their way down the hall. He loses them as they turn a corner, and after turning that same corner, only just catches a flash of the boy's red hair, seeing him ducking into another classroom.

The door to said room remains open, allowing him to slip inside. Beyond the threshold lies a typical classroom. Six rows with six desks each, a lectern on a raised platform, a series of windows allowing a view to the outside world, and a few students milling about.

He makes his way to the back corner nearest the windows, staying hidden from Emiya's line of sight as he does. As he approaches the corner, he catches the blue hair of Mr. Bastard as he approaches the red-haired boy. Taiasu can feel his blood pressure spike, and his teeth set on edge.

The boy stands over Emiya, hand against his side. "So, what, Emiya? After you quit the club, all you've been doing is helping Ryuudou?"

"Shinji? Is the archery club doing well?"

_So his name is Shinji…_

Taiasu makes another mental note.

_I still prefer 'Mr. Bastard'…_

He scoffs, turning his nose up. "O-of course…! It doesn't matter to an outsider, but it's been better since that outsider left. We're certain to do well at the next exhibition."

The boy shrugs. "Mitsuzuri must be working hard…"

Taiasu looks back at Emiya, tilting his head.

_Is he ignoring that? Or does he just not pick up on that sort of thing?_

Shinji sneers. "Huh? What are you even saying? It's only thanks to my efforts. Listen, Emiya. Outsiders like you will only embarrass yourself, talking like you know what's what."

"I'll try to watch that. But it's like you said, I guess. It's none of my business," Emiya says in an even tone.

The two engage in some more back and forth, Shinji jabbing with his words, and Emiya paying them no mind. Taiasu's frown sharpens.

_Everything about this guy… The way he carries himself, the way he speaks, the tone of voice… It's like he was born to become an asshole… That's not even considering that business at the archery range._

Something else comes to his mind as well.

_I see it now. He's just like that bastard… Asahi sas Brutus… Damn it…_

His eyes narrow as he remembers.

_Yotsuyu…_

Recalling what he knew of her life, and her end was a painful thing.

* * *

Life had been unbelievably cruel to Yotsuyu goe Brutus. Her parents were neglectful, and at their worst, abusive and cruel. That was before they married her off for profit to a somehow even worse nobleman. A house of ill repute then bought her to settle said noble's debts after he left her a widow.

She betrayed her Doman brethren and served as a spy under Zenos yae Galvus. As the story goes, the two had a liaison when she was being forced to work off her late husband's debts.

She had attempted to woo Zenos, in order to acquire his father's plans for conquest against Doma. Her intent was to turn them over to the then-viceroy of Doma. Zenos summarily rebuffed her seductions.

Then he coaxed from her the truth.

Within her had festered a deep hatred for Doma and its people. Justly or otherwise, she blamed them for her suffering. Complicit or ignorant, they had turned a blind eye as her parents mistreated her, abused her, and then sold her off.

She turned 'traitor' after this fateful encounter, though some more sympathetic to her story might say it was out of necessity.

Taiasu is one of these people.

* * *

She served as a spy for Garlemald after Zenos crushed the Doman resistance effort. Then Taiasu and his friends arrived to liberate Doma from the Garlean stranglehold.

Everything came to a head when he and his friends had made their move to retake Castle Doma. At the end, the woman openly confessed that she had let them into the castle as a trap before collapsing the entire thing in on them to dispatch the true heir to the Doman throne, Hien Rijin.

Somehow, she survived, along with the captured Gosetsu Everfall, and the two became stranded on an island. She had captured Gosetsu during an earlier venture and was holding him prisoner within that same castle when it collapsed.

He saved the two of them from that island with a makeshift raft, sailing all the way to Kugane after learning the woman had lost her memory. While her memory remained lost, she had become quite a gentle, kind and sweet woman.

Her own complete antithesis. Of course, Gosetsu's tender, fatherly affections had aided this transformation by engendering within her the sort of love she never could have known growing up under such trying circumstances.

If only it could have stayed that way…

* * *

Asahi sas Brutus came to Doma, feigning interest in an exchange of prisoners. The man brought with him his parents, who had been Yotsuyu's step-parents. The same ones who had treated her with such vindictive cruelty. Their presence and words caused her memories to return.

Feeling herself unworthy of having received the care and attention Gosetsu had fawned upon her, she fled, the weight of her acts driving her to make an attempt on her own life… Her step-parents, unaware of her returned memories, cornered the woman, gloating of their schemes to again sell her for profit.

Justly, she did away with them, and later learned this was exactly what Asahi had planned. He had made her some promise, and she joined him the next day to claim it. Still feigning to go through with the prisoner exchange, Asahi baited Taiasu, along with several other key players including Lord Hien, who had survived the collapse of Castle Doma, into a trap. Asahi then revealed a truly staggering amount of aether crystals.

Asahi had also 'gifted' Yotsuyu with a sacred relic. That relic, the overwhelming quantity of aether crystals, and her own will and resentment toward Doma worked to transform her into a primal. Asahi's actions had forced Taiasu and his friends to do away with the transformed Yotsuyu.

There was a thin, if blood-stained, silver lining. During her last moments, she ended the life of her scheming adoptive brother, gaining some measure of vengeance and, hopefully, peace.

* * *

_She didn't… She didn't deserve that._

Taiasu stares daggers at Mr. Bastard, Shinji as he now knows his name to be.

_Why does this guy remind me so much of Asahi sas Brutus?_

He trembles as he wipes his eyes.

There is another brief interaction between Ryuudou and Emiya, and something Ryuudou says catches Taiasu's attention.

"You lose your temper easily, but you're tolerant of Matou."

_Matou… that's what they called Ms. Purple. That, and Sakura… Are they related?_

He frowns.

_Is this some sort of weird naming convention?_

His mental note-taking device shoots sparks as he tries to keep everything straight in his mind.


	7. Echoes in the Snow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Revised: 02/14/2021**

A bell rings throughout the school and everyone moves toward their seats. Soon after the bell has faded, another sound, that of desperate footsteps, can be heard from outside the classroom.

"I'm late, I'm late, I'm late, I'm late, I'm late…!" the owner of the frantic footsteps yells as they come flying through the door.

_She's…_

Taiasu's eyes follow her.

_That's right. She's their teacher…_

"All right, I made it! Good morning, everyo—" She speaks with a wide and eager grin, and as she leans slightly forward in a polite bow, for some imperceptible reason, she collapses, truncating her energetic proclamation.

Taiasu winces at the sound produced by her head striking the ground as it bounces off the raised podium on which her lectern rests. What conversation the students had been having ends as well, leaving the room in an uncomfortable silence.

_Ouch… I think I felt that. Hang on… Is she okay?_

She remains facedown, motionless, and murmurs permeate the classroom.

"… Hey. Front row. Wake her up," one student, a male with short brown hair and glasses, says, his tone oddly calm considering the situation.

"What? I'm not going to. What if she bites me?" another of the students, a female with light blue shoulder length hair, says.

"What, like a mimic or something? She wouldn't go that far… I don't think," the same male student replies, pushing up his glasses.

"If you're so confident, then why don't you wake her up?"

The boy rubs the back of his head. "I'll… have to pass. I'm still not used to her yet."

"Me neither!" the girl says. "Why would you make a girl do it? It should be a guy's job!"

Taiasu frowns.

_What the hells is going on here? Shouldn't they like… go get some help or something?_

They argue for a bit more until finally someone checks on the teacher's status.

"Hey, she's not moving. Is she unconscious?" the male student asks.

"Fujimura-sensei…? Um, are you alright?" the girl asks, leaning over her.

The teacher gives no visible response when the girl calls out to her.

Taiasu notes her name, but his frown deepens.

_Wait… is she actually dead? What in every hell is going on? Someone do something!_

The boy scratches his head, looking down at her. "It was a pretty nasty fall. Her head bounced right off the platform. She'd have to be using cheat codes to be okay from that."

"Hey… Maybe we could get her for the baseball club?" another of the students, a male with rough-cut loose black hair, mutters. "If we did, we'd make regionals for sure!" another boy says in reply.

Taiasu holds his head as his eyes bulge.

_Are they just gonna let her die!?_

The girl leaning over her pushes against her shoulder gently. "Fujimura-Sensei! Fujimura-Sensei! She's not responding!"

"So wake her up. You're in front of her, right?" the first boy to have spoken says.

One of the other boys, who had moved to the front of the class, shakes his head aggressively. "No way! What if she's really dead? She'll come back and haunt me!"

Taiasu rubs the sides of his head fervently.

_If she's dead! IF SHE'S DEAD?! WHAT THE HELLS IS HAPPENING HERE?!_

"Things could get bad if we leave her like this…" the girl says, standing upright.

"What can we do? No one wants to go near her…" one of the other boys says.

"I guess it can't be helped…" another boy says. "There's one thing we can try."

The girl nods silently.

Taiasu sighs in relief.

_Oh thank every god, they're actually gonna…?_

Every student, with the exception of Emiya and Shinji, for some reason, speaks as softly as possible.

"One, two… wake up, Tiger!"

Their combined volume is below that of a whisper.

Taiasu's eyes widen to the size of plates.

_Wait, what the f—!_

He notices the teacher's body twitch.

_…? What…?_

"Whoa, she moved! Alright, it's working everyone!" one of the male students says.

Another male student nods. "Then continue the punishment!"

Taiasu's deep frown cuts even deeper.

_Punishment…? What in every single hell everywhere!?_

A few of the students wave their arms and add volume to their cries.

"Wake up Tiger, it's morning!"

"Sensei, you're a tiger if you don't wake up!"

"Don't give up, Tiger! Stand up, Tiger!"

"Yeah, wake up, Sensei! Then you'll be a true Tiger!"

Several students call out consecutively, and each then joins in a chant.

"Tiger! Tiger! Tiger! Tiger! Tiger!" They emphasize each syllable as they call out in unison.

Finally, the teacher's eyes snap open and she springs to her feet, hands clenched outward at her sides, and mouth open in a feral yell.

"DON'T CALL ME TIGER!"

Taiasu almost stumbles into the wall behind him.

_Wait, that… that worked!?_

Her sudden and unnatural outburst ends just as quickly, offering no resolution to the small man's befuddled state as her expression settles down to something more calm and modest. Her hands relax to her sides, and her confused stare moves about the classroom to each student still standing, some at the front of the classroom and some near their seats.

"… Huh? What are you all doing?" the teacher, Fujimura as some have called her, says. "Homeroom has started, so everyone take your seat."

Taiasu's mouth hangs loose as his head shakes slowly from side to side.

_I… don't even…_

The few students standing scurry to their seats as the teacher takes her place behind the lectern and makes a few announcements, including one about a curfew. Whatever the atmosphere had been before, it has quickly dissolved into something far more appropriate for a classroom setting.

"What? Six o'clock is too early, Taiga-sensei. Can't the athletic clubs be exempted?" One student asks.

"Nope. And Gotou-kun, please address your teacher as 'Fujimura-sensei'. I'll get mad if you call me that again."

In that moment, a light-bulb explodes in Taiasu's brain, and he has to clamp his mouth shut again.

_Ah… AAAAAAH! THAT'S WHAT IT'S ABOUT…! People don't refer to each other by their first names here…! That's so… WEIRD! I mean, sure, when you're addressing them by a title, but in just every-day life… Man, what sort of crazy country did that old man send me to…_

There's more said, but Taiasu is still processing this revelation, so he misses it. The teacher, Fujimura, leaves, and a stern-looking man enters the classroom with a declaration that class is starting.

Nothing of note transpires afterward, and it's not long before Taiasu becomes fidgety.

_I didn't even like school when I had to go… This sucks…_

* * *

The day proceeds and concludes without incident. Taiasu has spent the entire time concealed, except for the few minutes when he slipped out to perform a crystal infusion.

Some students make their way out of the classroom as the sun dips low in the sky, tinting everything in varying shades of red and orange. The guy in glasses, Ryuudou, approaches Emiya.

"Sorry, Emiya. Do you have time to attend to the rest of the repairs?"

Emiya sighs. "I sort of had other plans… I guess I can change them. We're finishing what we started this morning, right? Let's get this done. Hopefully, we can finish quickly."

"Yes, thanks. We'll triage the patient in the art club."

Emiya nods. "Sure. Ah, please clear the room beforehand so I can concentrate, if you would?"

"Of course. I won't let anyone disturb you."

Taiasu taps his fingers against his leg, and his foot against the floor. The two of them leave the classroom, and he remains in his role as their shadow.

By the time they finish their work, the sun has concluded its journey below the horizon.

The two make their way out of the school. Taiasu's awareness of Emiya's ability to see him gives impetus to stay out of sight, and they remain oblivious to the weight he adds to their shadows. They return the same way that Emiya had come that morning, conversing as they walk.

"I'm in your debt," Ryuudou says. "Let me know what you need sometime so I can make this up to you.

Emiya shrugs. "Yeah, if I think of anything. I don't think that's likely though."

Ryuudou's eyes narrow behind his glasses. "You know, there's such a thing as going too far, Emiya. It's fine if you like helping people, but you'll just end up getting exploited like that."

"You think so?"

"Yeah. It's obvious. You do anything for anyone, and that only leaves you open to being taken advantage of by heartless idiots. It's fine to say 'no' sometimes."

Taiasu can feel his ears twitch at that.

_Maybe I should write that down…_

"It's not something to worry yourself about, Issei."

_Issei… okay, fine, but I heard 'Ryuudou' first so I'll just stick with that…_

Emiya continues persuading Ryuudou.

"Helping people is a good thing. You should know that, right? I mean, your dad is the priest at the temple after all."

Taiasu can feel his ears tingle.

_I feel like… I've heard parts of this conversation before…_

Ryuudou frowns a small frown. "Yes, but it might overwhelm you if you take it too far, don't you think?"

"I'll take that under advisement. See you tomorrow, yeah?"

Ryuudou nods and the two head their separate ways, him heading through a nearby gate to a long stretch of stone stairs, and Emiya heading back to his place.

Taiasu remains as Emiya's shadow, running on autopilot until another presence forces him from his absent-minded state.

A girl, quite young by her appearance, her eyes red like well-cut rubies, wearing a deep purple coat and matching cap, with a light-pink scarf. Given that it is night, and the location, and the regal air about her, she stands in stark contrast with her surroundings.

The boy halts his breathing as the girl descends from the nearby hill without making a sound. As she walks past, Taiasu can hear her speak something ominous.

"You'd better hurry and summon it, or you'll die, Onii-chan."

Emiya continues walking, but the second her voice reaches his ears, Taiasu can feel the onset of another resonance event. With no time to react, or even think, he can feel himself collapsing against a nearby retaining wall as the vision takes hold.

* * *

It's the most intense it's ever been.

Before, he'd only seen and heard what was happening, and had an empathic link to the feelings of those in the vision, and what was going on around him. Things didn't always make sense, but there was the context of what was happening around him before the vision took root to fill in some blanks.

Here, there is no context.

Snow falls from the sky, coating the ground of the foliage stripped forest around him. He can feel his skin bristle against the cold air which digs into him like small claws. Being taken from the cool night to this frigid forest in moments makes it hard to adjust. If he had a form, he's certain he'd be seeing his own breath.

The girl he'd just seen, he sees now, in not but a tattered white gown, her bare feet atop the freshly fallen snow.

Beside her stands a monolith. A giant. Equal to any magitek colossus Taiasu has ever faced in combat. Its flesh looks hewn from a mountain. It wears no chest piece or shirt. Where could it find one that fit? Around its waist it wears an iron-plated kilt, and under that a light purple garment.

The giant sinks into the snow, or perhaps even the ground, right up to its ankles.

An encroaching pack of wolves with white fur surrounds the two of them. The girl screams and stumbles to the ground. It's not fear, but something else. Her arms grip her body as she holds her trembling form, enduring whatever is causing her to cry out.

Each time the giant moves, the girl's mournful cries pierces the cold air around them.

The giant swings its unusual weapon. Not quite a sword, and not quite an axe. Fashioned from a colossal stone, it looks more suited to crushing than cutting, but the speed with which it moves makes the roughness of the edge irrelevant.

He cleaves through the entire pack of wolves, destroying them in seconds. Blood stains the snow, the weapon, and the girl as it sprays outward from their mangled corpses. Instant death is a mercy for some, as those which don't die the second they are hurled away in pieces follow their fallen kin soon after.

The trembling girl remains on the ground, her own blood from some unseen injury staining her garment, and the surrounding snow, mixing with that of the fallen wolf pack. With the threat resolved, the giant ceases its movements and the girl's shaking subsides. As long as he remains motionless, she remains quiet and still.

Her breath comes out in white puffs, and the giant's comes out in a cloud. The girl shakes as she stands. From pain, the cold, or both, Taiasu can't tell. He's too overwhelmed by the scene. The juxtaposition.

This girl stands taller than him, because everyone does, but still comes only to this colossus's hip, and the giant stares down at her with a steely, yet caring expression. Despite the carnage surrounding them, the scene feels serene.

"You're strong, Berserker."

The girl's mournful voice of before is replaced by one of awe, respect, and affection.

She reaches out and touches the giant's hand. The contrast is incomprehensible. A single one of the titan's fingers could wrap around her hand entirely.

The giant has several minor injuries over its body, but they have already begun mending. Much of the blood staining the snow and the giant belongs to the beasts he has slain, but some of it belongs to him. And some of it belongs to the girl. Her face bears tracks from her tears as she endures the pain of the giant's every movement.

Taiasu can feel the vision ending.

_No… Not yet… Just a little longer… Please…_

The Echo denies him.

* * *

Taiasu comes around, finding himself sitting on the ground, his back against the retaining wall. The first things he sees are the girl's eyes, and then everything bears down on him in waves. The cold, the pain the girl had felt, the carnage, blood, bones, and viscera surrounding them. A giant that was both terrifying and compassionate.

He pulls his mask off, exposing his distinct features. It's not stopping his breathing, but it still feels suffocating after coming out of the most intense and real feeling resonance he's experienced since that had become a thing.

The girl tilts her head as she stares at him, and as he looks up at her, the scene again replays in his mind.

_How much… has this girl been through…?_

Another thought plays through his mind as well.

_She's seen me… What do I do now?_

A few more thoughts run through his mind, but one stands out above the rest.

_Introduce yourself, stupid!_

He shakes his head and stands up, brushing off his backside.

"Uh… Hi. I'm Taiasu. Taiasu Taruko… I'm… kind of new here…"

The girl's head tilts the other direction.

"… Yes? And can I help you with something?"

"Maybe…? I'm… new in town… and…"

The impact from the vision is still causing his brain to reel and figuring out what to say is a tall order.

The girl giggles. "Yes… you said that already."

"Ah… yeah, I did, sorry…"

He casts his gaze to the ground.

_Why is this so… awkward…!_

Bits of the vision keep playing out in his mind. The girl screaming, her blood staining her clothing, and the beasts surrounding her and the giant she called Berserker keep interjecting into the present. His head snaps up, and he locks eyes with the girl. His expression is pained for her, and he can feel his stinging tears well up as he shakes his head.

_No, that already happened, idiot! You can't do anything about that!_

The girl's eyes narrow as she scrutinizes him. As he traces her stare down to his weapons, he realizes something. Other than those at the archery range, every person he's seen.

Every. Single. One.

_No weapons. Not one sword, not one dagger, bow or staff… Is this country demilitarized? And I'm walking around with… freaking… ninja swords… in plain view of everyone right now?_

The old man's words play again in his mind.

_Keep a low profile. No wonder… that old bastard, if he knew he could have SAID SOMETHING!_

"These are an uh… these are… props?" He shows an awkward smile as he tries to explain away his unusual apparel. "Yeah, props! I'm a… stage performer?"

The girl's smile fades and her mouth turns in a small frown as she shakes her head.

Taiasu mirrors her head shake. "Yeah… you're… not buying that, are you?"

_Just kill me now…_

Her expression shifts, and a playful smile works its way across her face.

"No, those are real," she says. "And you're a Servant… Assassin, if I had to guess?"

Taiasu tilts his head now. "Huh…? Assassin? Servant? What Servant?"

"No point playing dumb. I can sense your power. Even without that, those weapons are telling. So why did you collapse? Did you run out of magical energy?" Her eyes narrow as her smile morphs into something more sinister and dangerous. "Well, it doesn't matter. I'll just eliminate you now and save myself some trouble."

Materializing from nowhere, a very muscular, very tall, and very imposing presence demands Taiasu's full attention. The giant from his vision, right there in the stone-hewn flesh.

Taiasu's face flashes with recognition. "Ah…! Berserker!"

It's impossible to shake the scene from his mind.

"Wow…" His head tilts straight back as he looks to the giant's face. "I'm used to being the smallest man in the room, but this is… still a bit much."

The girl's head tilts to one side, her finger pressed against her chin.

"Huh? Most people tremble at their death. Are you stupid?"

Taiasu takes a few steps back. "Death? Wait, what…?" His eyes widen. "What?"

Her head tilts in the other direction.

"Yes… Death… I'm… going to kill you…? Are you actually stupid?"

Taiasu tilts his own head to the side.

"Kill me? Why? I was hoping we could be friends, but that's not a great way to start a friendship…"

The moving monolith cuts their conversation short as he roars and charges forward.

Taiasu moves to the side as the weapon slams into the ground next to him, creating a blast wave.

The titan swings the sword back at him from the side and, as he ducks, it passes over his head.

"Hey! You're… He's—! You're really trying to kill me!"

He turns to the girl, whose expression is a mixture of confusion, bemusement, and some amount of malice.

"Yes… That's what I said… Did you think I was lying…?"

The colossus swings its weapon again, and Taiasu rushes out of the way.

"Well… I mean, I didn't know what to think… Wait, is he okay? He's moving kind of slow… At least to how he was in the forest."

He steps back as the weapon slams into the ground in front of him.

The girl clenches her jaw as her pet titan misses several more consecutive attacks.

A few more swings fail to find purchase, and the girl calls him back.

Taiasu takes the moment to catch his breath. "Huh? Did you change your mind?"

The girl rubs her forehead to work out some tension that has been building.

"… Are you actually a Servant?"

He swallows against his dry throat and looks up at her. "Huh? I don't even know what that is… Well… I mean, I know rich people have servants that cook and clean, but I know I'm not that."

"You… have to be… No human can move like…?"

Her eyes narrow as she regards him with careful consideration.

_Is he even human? He_ appears _humanoid, but…_

He's much shorter than the average human. Shorter even than her, by almost half. Despite, or perhaps even because of that, he's evaded several of her colossus's attacks.

_Is he even taking this seriously? And what's with those ears… He looks like a child!_

"… no _mortal_ could have done what you just did," she finishes.

He again slightly tilts his head. "Huh? What did I do?"

Her eyes narrow and she frowns sharply. "Dodge my Berserker's attacks like that!"

"I heard you call him that in the woods." Taiasu looks up at the hulking monolith standing in silence just in front of the girl. "That's a weird name…"

She shakes and her face goes hard red as she raises her hand.

"Huh? Are we fighting again? I don't want to fight… I mean, I will if I have to, but I'd rather be friends…"

The girl's hand stops, and Berserker relaxes. Her jaw hangs loose and her eyes grow wide.

"W-what? F-friends? After I just… Is your head on straight?"

Taiasu shrugs and smiles warmly. "Well, I mean… It wouldn't be the first time I've made friends with a person who tried to kill me. There was Gaius, and that weird dancing ninja guy, and… Ysayle…" He counts them off on his fingers, but his smile dips into a sad frown as he mentions the last name.

"Besides that, you're the first person I've been able to talk with since I got here, so I'd rather not fight." His sad frown vanishes, being replaced by an eager grin as he returns to the moment. "Besides that, it didn't seem like you or he was trying very hard, and you did stop. I mean, unless you're going to keep going? Are we still fighting?"

Her mouth flaps up and down for a few moments as she struggles to articulate her intent.

"I'm… still deciding."

_Is… is this for real? Wait, is he actually serious? Is he naïve, or just an idiot? Wait, what did he say about —_

Her hand lowers some more until it drops, and her face loses a few shades of red.

"What did you mean, first person?"

His grin broadens and his eyes grow wide, reflecting the soft, ambient light present. "Yeah! You're the first person I've gotten to talk with since I got here! It's really exciting for me! I had to spend the entire day being quiet and sneaking around because the old man asked me to. He told me to keep a low profile… I screwed that up… But he also told me to 'follow the red-head'—" He points the direction Emiya went. "—which is why I was following that guy. He was the first person I saw with red hair, so I figured it was him he meant… Now that I think about it, he's the only person I've seen with red hair… Wait, what am I supposed to do if I see another person with—"

Her shoulders slump forward and her mouth hangs. "What…? What old man? Wait, what are you even going on about?" She softly interjects into his rambling incoherency, and his gaze, which had been progressively turning skyward, drops back down to her face.

"The old man who asked me to come here." Taiasu speaks like he's explaining something someone should already know.

"Some… old man asked you to come to Japan and follow Onii-chan?"

"Japan? No, this is Earth… OH! Japan must be this country!" His eyes widen. "It reminds me a lot of Kugane…"

The girl tilts her head again. "What's… Kugane… Wait… before that… what did you mean, this is… Earth…?"

"That's what the old man said. He asked me to come someplace 'far away', and he said that place was 'Earth'. I'd never heard of that continent, but… well… he made it sound really interesting and fun, so I agreed to come here."

The girl's head is about to catch fire from this conversation. "Earth… isn't a continent…"

Taiasu pokes his chin. "No, it has to be a continent. If it's not a continent, then what is it?"

She tries processing everything she's hearing, and to discern if this guy is for real, or just committed to a bad, one-sided routine in desperate need of a straight man.

"It's… a planet?"

He looks at her like she sprouted a second head. "A… planet…? This is… another… planet…?"

She silently nods her head with a very deliberate slowness.

Taiasu looks at the ground hard…

Somewhere, across time and space, he can hear the old man laughing his entire ass off.

"That… miserable… stupid… deceitful… old…" He can't even finish.

"Fine… good one… So you're saying that this isn't Hydaelyn?"

"What's… Hydaelyn…?"

He smiles sadly. "It's where I'm from… That man sent me to another planet… That explains so much. It's why the aether is so screwed up here. And why no one's carrying weapons… Also why you thought I was… whatever you thought I was…"

The girl's eyes widen. "Wait. You… You're not from Earth?"

Taiasu sighs and shakes his head.

Had it not been for this lengthy and most surreal conversation, she'd have burst out laughing at his joke. However, with his appearance, his expression, and everything that has taken place over the past several minutes, she can't help but believe him.

And agree with him. It explains a lot.

"Well… he wasn't wrong…" Taiasu says, looking up. "I think things are going to be interesting now…"

"Illyasviel," the girl says.

Taiasu looks at her. "Huh? Uh… good health to you?"

"What?"

"We say that when people sneeze…"

She flushes red. "That… That was my name, you stupid potato! Illyasviel! You told me yours, so I'm telling you mine!"

"Oh! OH! I'm sorry!…" He goes red while rubbing the back of his head. "That's… that's a lovely name… Illyasviel… Yes, I quite like that name…"

Her redness diminishes. "Illyasviel von Einzbern."

He nods and bows deeply, cutting his diminutive stature in half. "Pleased to meet you, Illyasviel. Thanks for not killing me…" he says. "Ah, I'm Taiasu. Taiasu Taruko… but I already said that… I'm sorry about what happened in the woods."

He makes his way down the road toward the place where he had found himself when he first arrived in what he now understands to be a new and unknown world.

Illyasviel's finger rests against her chin and her head leans slightly to the left.

"… Woods?"


	8. Day's End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Revised: 02/14/2021**

Taiasu replaces his mask.

No longer burdened by the overwhelming effect of the Echo, it again feels comfortable to wear. As he conceals himself, he feels the hit to his aether, but with it comes a dizzying sensation, a shortness of breath, and a wave of discomfort bordering on outright pain.

_Right… I used this all day and haven't recharged_ _, except this afternoon. Then there was that business with almost being crushed by that giant. I guess saving my life used more than I thought._

The feeling passes but, from what he can tell, it won't be long before he'll be in jeopardy of death by aether deprivation again.

_I can recharge behind that shed…?_

As he considers retiring for the evening to do so, he sees the teacher making her way toward him. She stares past while walking by, paying him no regard. Up ahead, the vibrant red hair of Emiya, and the soft sheen of Ms. Purple's hair reflect in the ambient light of the evening.

_It'll have to wait._

They're traveling at a leisurely pace, so it's simple enough to slip into Emiya's shadow without crossing his field of vision. Their route is the same they had taken to get to school that morning. As they walk, they make casual conversation.

"Senpai…? Uh, my house is this way."

"Huh? Oh, sorry. I was just thinking. Your house is at the top of the hill on that side, right?"

The girl shows a soft smile. "No, that one is Tohsaka-senpai's house. Mine is nearby though."

"Oh, was that it?" The boy's eyes widen "… Wait, you mean _THAT_ Tohsaka…?"

"Yes, Tohsaka Rin of the second year. Do you not like her, Senpai?"

_Tohsaka… Rin?_

Taiasu makes another mental note.

He shakes his head a couple times. "No, I don't dislike her. I've never talked to her, so I don't know much about her. But she's famous, right? She stands out wherever she goes, so I know her just like everyone else." As he speaks, the girl's smile drops. "What about you, Sakura? You have the same Western-style mansion, so do you guys have a neighborly relationship?"

"No. We're certainly neighbors, but her house is up on top of the hill." Her smile fades into a small frown as her gaze casts to the ground. "But how did you know her house was Western style, Senpai?"

"Oh, it's just something I heard. Tohsaka's place being a haunted house and all that. Those are always Western style, right?"

They talk more about haunted Western style mansions and the sorcerers that live in them.

Taiasu's head tilts as he follows, listening.

_Sorcerers in mansions…? On Hydaelyn, it was usually in towers._

They proceed up a hill through another residential area in town. The higher they ascend the hill, the fewer buildings there are, and the more trees there seem to be.

The girl stops mid stride, and the boy stops as well, looking back at her. "Hm? Did you forget something?"

She shakes her head. "Oh… no, it's not that, but… Senpai, is there someone standing near my house?" Her voice trembles a little as she answers.

"There's no one… Did you see something?"

She glances at the ground, gripping at her sleeve. "Oh… no, if you didn't see anyone, then it's fine. I've been noticing this strange person around my house recently, so I just wondered if he'd be here again today."

Emiya's eyes widen. "What? Isn't that dangerous? What kind of guy was he?"

The girl's eyes briefly widen also as she looks back up at him, and she smiles at his response.

"Um… he was a blond, good-looking person. He looked like a model, so I'm sure you'd be surprised too if you saw him."

Taiasu catches sight of the feather tucked into her beige vest. Only the top of it can be made out, and it contrasts against the white of her shirt. Seeing this entire back and forth with the two causes a pang in his heart, and he shakes his head.

_Only myself to blame…_

Saving a world or two is one thing, but baring one's heart to another is a different beast entirely. One that, even to this day, he still couldn't conquer. The entire situation also brings to his mind the old man, Watcher.

_For all of his vagueness and being so cryptic and… weird… There was something else about him. He was trying hard to hide it…_

Even before he had asked him on this ludicrous quest, Taiasu had felt a profound sense of loss within the man. It was something that ran so deep no amount of effort could fully conceal it.

Their conversation continues for a bit about the strange man as they make their way to the girl's residence. On seeing her place, Taiasu shudders.

_This place gives me the creeps. Major bad vibes here._

"Good night then, Senpai. I'm glad you walked me home."

Emiya laughs nervously, going a shade of red. "I-Idiot. Don't thank me. You're the one making me dinner, so I should be the one thanking you… Geez. If this is all it takes, I'll do it every day."

She nods and smiles radiantly. "Please do. Even if it's only once in a while, but please walk home with me. Nii-san will get mad, but I like being with you."

Taiasu's gaze snaps to Emiya's face.

 _Gh—hey, that was a veiled confession…! Come_ ON _, man!_

"Senpai, see you tomorrow! Thank you for today!"

The girl walks toward the entrance of her creepy house. If the boy notices her obvious intent, he says nothing, and the small man is left grumbling to himself.

The two make their way back, Emiya none the wiser.

* * *

Taiasu watches as Emiya slips into the shed.

_Well… I guess that's it then…!_

Another sharp tightness in his chest, and a more intense dizzy spell tells him it's time to recharge.

_Damn it, this is becoming a problem…_

After finding an out of the way spot, he drops his concealment. The moment he does, he can feel the tightness in his chest dissolve, and he digs through his possessions.

_… Clusters. I didn't think things would escalate this soon. It'll have to be clusters from now on._

He pulls out six crystal clusters, one for each aethereal aspect. As long as he's not maintaining contact, the aether remains housed within each cluster.

_Hm… interesting. Shards siphon off rather quickly. That's a good thing, or I'd never have even noticed and be dead right now._

He divides the clusters into two groups of three and then rests a hand on each group. After a few seconds, he can feel the aether being pulled into his body, and the light from each cluster dims.

The dizziness fades, the soft knot in his chest relaxes, and he can feel the reservoir within him tick up. After a few seconds, the last of the light dissipates from the clusters. The slight discomfort to which he'd grown accustomed vanishes with the last traces of light. More than that, he feels more full with concentrated aether as he returns the spent clusters to his pack. He stares at the last empty cluster for a moment before shrugging and returning it as well.

_I wonder if there's a use for those…_

As he lies on the ground, a soft rattling sound catches his attention, and his gaze falls to the source. The pouch fastened to his belt, about which, until this moment, he had forgotten.

"Right… these things… Old man said I'd be meeting special people…" he mutters. Opening the pouch, he examines the contents.

As the soft light from the stones illuminates the immediate space around him, Taiasu's eyes widen.

_These…_

He reaches into the pouch and pulls from it three stones.

_This is new… Okay, that's stupid. All of this is new, but these are even more new._

These three stones stand distinct from their counterparts. One the color of polished steel. One the color of amethyst, and the third shines red like a cut ruby.

_This one…_

Holding it up, he immediately recognizes the color.

_It's like her eyes. That Illyasviel… Wait… three? I had three resonance events today too… That's unprecedented. One a week is a bit much, but three in a day?_

He stares at the stones in his hand as their glow intensifies and fades at regular intervals, like a beating heart.

_It can't be a coincidence…_

He drops the three stones back into the sack and cinches it closed as he yawns heavily.

_For tomorrow, then._

Laying his head on the ground, he closes his eyes, and sleep soon follows.

The Day Ends.


	9. Serpent's Echo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Revised: 02/14/2021**

A dream.

A face. Soft and beautiful. More breathtaking than any Taiasu has seen in three worlds now. Shoulder-length red hair, though brown at the roots. Beautiful eyes that shine somewhere between brown and green, and a smile that lights up the darkest room.

Or the darkest heart.

The face flashes through his mind like a strobe light. Each time, he can feel his heart twist. Ache. Sob.

Writhe.

This face that should bring joy and happiness is only causing him pain. No, not the face, but the memory of what has happened to the person to whom the face belonged.

A memory that remains fresh, and yet just out of reach.

* * *

The first rays of light from the morning sun pierce the veil of sleep. Taiasu shields his eyes, allowing them to adjust comfortably. "Where the hells… oh, right…!"

He sits bolt upright.

The face comes back into his mind, and with it a twisting sensation in his chest, like something trying to crush his heart. His breath falls short as he leans forward, gasping for air. A powerful torrent of emotions tear through his heart and his mind.

Anger. Sadness. Abandonment. Betrayal. Loneliness. Isolation. Misery.

Suffering.

_What… is this…!?_

He clutches a clod of earth between his hands, crushing it in his grip.

_I've never… even seen… this person… who the hells… what…_

Pain of loss is not a new thing for him. He's lost and had to say goodbye to quite a few friends, but this was something on an entirely different level, made worse by so many unanswered questions.

_Who is she? I've never seen her… What happened? Why can't I remember?_

Then, as suddenly as it had all come upon him, it fades. He can still remember the face. Almost hear her voice. And the sadness that comes with it, and he has to shake his head to bring himself around.

_Come on… get it together… No time for a complete mental breakdown…_

* * *

"Maybe I should learn to refuse requests," he mutters to himself.

Most of his conversations the past day were with himself.

He then recalls his brief encounter with the silver-haired maiden, that Illyasviel, and her silent, statuesque sentinel, the giant she had called Berserker.

_Fitting name…_

The giant hadn't spoken a word. Just a single roar followed by a series of slow, powerful attacks.

_She seemed nice after that…?_

He recalls what she had asked him.

_So… what's a Servant… in this context…? And why did she think I was one?_

He shakes his head.

_Right. First things first…_

He executes his first crystal infusion of the day with six distinct clusters in the same manner he had done the preceding night.

_Not even sure it's necessary… I feel fine. Better than fine. Well, better than yesterday, anyway…_

He shrugs as the light from the clusters wanes, and collects them after the last wisps wink out of existence. After finding his bearings, he ascends the wall from his resting place, and begins observing the premises. Someone is already awake and moving about in the residence.

_That'd be Emiya…_

Taiasu watches the movement as best he can for a few moments and then moves to the vantage point he had discovered yesterday and waits.

Half an hour later, the girl with the purple hair makes her way in through the main entrance. He watches as she quietly enters the residence, and he continues to watch and wait, his fingers thrumming against his legs in a rhythmic pattern. The teacher, Fujimura, arrives after a time, enters, and… that's it.

_Why the hells did he even have me come here?_

He hadn't received a complete picture. Just an earnest request and a promise that 'he can handle it', whatever the hell 'it' is. He frowns and sighs again. The teacher leaves first, and the girl leaves a short time later. Taiasu watches as the girl makes her way along the same path she and the boy had taken. By her expression, something weighs on her mind. Some time passes, and then Emiya leaves as well.

Taiasu sighs briefly and then nods.

_Time for me too then, I guess…_

He resumes his covert surveillance. As he conceals himself, he can't even feel the hit to his aether.

_Weird. Maybe I should skip the lunch time infusion?_

* * *

On reaching the temple intersection, there is some apparent commotion, and the wail of a few sirens.

Taiasu has neither the time to investigate, as Emiya isn't stopping, nor the inclination to do so, and he continues to follow, taking care to avoid the boy's enhanced perception.

They both cross the threshold of the school, and one of Emiya's schoolmates stops him.

"Morning, Emiya."

_Ah, Ms. Brown… er, Mitsuzuri, right?_

Other than her almost red hair, he hadn't given her any more proper consideration yesterday than he had Tohsaka when he'd first seen her. She wears the same archery outfit that Ms. Purple had donned yesterday. Her eyes are similar in color to Emiya's, somewhere between gold and yellow. She's pretty, yet unremarkable. Not unattractive, but not stunning either. She bears a distinct lack of the feminine charm possessed by her peers.

_Nothing wrong with that… just not to my taste…_

He shakes his head.

_Wait, I have a taste?_

Taiasu smirks as he realizes something he never knew about himself.

"Mitsuzuri? You're still dressed like that? Homeroom starts soon. What makes you think you have time to talk to me right now?"

The girl smiles and laughs.

"Tactless as always, Emiya. But you're right." Then her brow dips, and her smile vanishes. "Hey… You were just thinking bad about me."

He shakes his head. "Not on your life. I was just thinking about an objective truth. How you feel about that is on you, though."

She smirks. "I can't argue with that answer, but only because you didn't give me an answer. You never let your guard down. Shinji could learn a thing or two."

Emiya tilts his head. "Huh? What's he got to do with anything?"

She huffs her arms stick outward as she rests her hands on her waist. "You guys are friends, right? You're the only guy-friend he's got. I'm the archery club captain, in case you forgot, so it's normal I'd draw a line between a problem member and a problem member that dropped out."

The boy taps his chin and then nods slowly. "I guess so…? The club has nothing to do with it, but I can only describe our relationship as… something like an inflamed appendix. Unsavory and inseparable. At least, not without major trauma."

Mitsuzuri frowns again. "Hey, don't speak like that about the club. You got off easy when you left Shinji and quit, but think about those left behind, like Sakura and I, before you talk like that."

As they continue their discussion, Taiasu has to stifle a yawn as his eyes glaze over.

Emiya tilts his head again. "So, what? Did he do something again?"

Mitsuzuri's eyes narrow. "Yeah. Every single day. But what he did yesterday was excessive, even for him. He drove one of the first years out."

"How's that?"

"He had a fit and took it out on the kid. He gathered a gaggle of girls around the poor guy. The kid hadn't even held a bow, and he made him shoot. He'd just laugh at him every time he missed until he hit the target." She shakes her head.

Emiya's eyes widen. "And… you just let that happen!?"

She frowns angrily. "The hell, I did! I'm just one person. Even the captain can't always be there, you know that."

Emiya stumbles back a bit, then catches himself. "That's… fair… Sorry. Seriously though, what was he thinking? He may be harsh with his teaching, but I never thought he'd pick on someone like that."

Mitsuzuri sighs. "I don't know why I'm surprised you'd think like that."

He frowns. "What's that supposed to mean? You're thinking bad about me, aren't you?"

The girl smirks. "Nope. Just considering an objective truth. How you feel about it is on you."

The boy sighs and folds his arms, looking at the ground. "Fine, I had that coming… But what about Shinji? Do you know why he was being like that?"

Taiasu frowns.

_Because he's an insufferable little twit?_

"Well, I think he got a harsh rejection from Tohsaka. At least, that's what I heard, anyway."

Emiya's mouth goes slack. "Tohsaka… You mean, _that_ Tohsaka?"

Mitsuzuri laughs. "Know any others? The honor student from class 2-A, Miss Perfect, Tohsaka Rin."

"Never heard her called that before…" Emiya mutters.

She shrugs. "Anyway, he's been like that since yesterday. That's why I've been stuck there today, to make sure he doesn't pull any crap like that again."

The boy sighs. "Do your best, Mitsuzuri. I know he's hard to deal with, but he should settle down soon."

"Sure, until he asks Ms. Perfect out and gets shot down again." Mitsuzuri frowns. "Who knows what comes after that."

Emiya shakes his head. "No chance he'll try that again. He's not that thick."

"Yeah, but what's he supposed to do if she keeps coming around? You wouldn't know, but Tohsaka has been coming around quite a bit. But it might be good for his attitude if he gets a reality check now and then."

Emiya winces. "That seems kind of harsh…"

He opens his mouth to speak some more, but the girl stops him.

"I think we're out of time for a chat. You should come by and see my skills when you have time." With that, she runs off.

Emiya mutters a bit, and heads off as well, with Taiasu invisibly in tow.

* * *

Class proceeds apace with little of note transpiring.

Emiya, along with many other students, leaves the classroom when lunch rolls around and Taiasu remains in lock step.

They arrive at a modest sized room the small man doesn't recognize, but on entering he sees someone he does recognize—the boy with the glasses, Ryuudou.

Both Emiya and Ryuudou situate themselves at one of the several tables, and begin eating. As the smells waft past his nose, Taiasu has to hold his stomach to prevent it from growling.

_Wait… When did I even eat last?_

He frowns, remembering the cold, half-eaten fettuccine.

_Even cold, it would be better than this…_

Ryuudou's face has a small frown as he looks between his lunch and that of his associate. "Emiya, could I trouble you for some of your fried chicken?"

Emiya glances from his box to Ryuudou's, and his eyes widen slightly. "I don't mind, but why is your lunch so… lacking? I know you live in a temple, but that's not a part of it, is it?"

He sighs, looking down. "No such thing. It's just how my father is. Basically, he's trying to push asceticism on me. I'm thinking of running away to join the circus." Ryuudou's words that sound like a joke are delivered with a dry and flat tone.

The boy smirks. "Sounds like him. Anyway, just remember this for next time." He points to the chicken on its way toward Ryuudou's mouth. "Make sure to repay that debt."

"Of course. It's a part of my training, after all." He offers a shallow bow before devouring the chicken. After finishing that, Ryuudou presses the conversation forward. "Did you know about what happened at 2nd avenue? Near where we part on the way home?"

Emiya looks up, but his mouth is full, so he just arches his eyebrow.

"I don't know much about it, but from what I heard there was a murder. Several, actually. An entire family of four, except for the youngest child."

His tone is quite casual, but his words make Emiya's face pale, and he stops chewing.

Taiasu can feel his appetite wane.

_What a thing to talk about over lunch… Jeez._

"The odd thing is the weapon was something long and sharp, but not like a knife."

Getting over the initial shock, Emiya swallows hard. He looks at Ryuudou, frowning, his eyebrows drawing sharply inward.

"… Did they catch them? The murderer?"

"It doesn't seem so. Between this and the accidents from faulty infrastructure, things like a curfew are only…? Emiya?" Ryuudou stops talking.

"No… it's nothing…" the boy lies, shaking his head.

"I was just surprised by your expression. Sorry… talking about this at lunch was thoughtless of me." Ryuudou offers a contrite apology.

The entrance of a stern-looking man into the room ends the gruesome conversation.

_This guy…?_

It was the same man who had come in after homeroom yesterday. Wearing glasses, a green suit coat, pants and tie, with a white dress shirt, his hair running a gradient between black and gray, and his eyes a piercing gray color.

"Excuse me, is Ryuudou here?" the stern-looking man asks in a flat tone.

Taiasu's eyes widen.

_No… Not again… Not… now!_

The moment the man's voice reaches his ears, he can feel another resonance event starting. There's no time to even consider a viable hiding place.

* * *

He can see a forest on a mountain. Icy rain falls from the sky.

_It's not like the last one… Or maybe it is? I can't even tell anymore…_

Even though he has no form, he can feel the cold cutting into him. Even though he's not here, he still feels the damp rain soaking into his very being, forcing from him a violent shudder.

He sees a girl, a woman in a long purple cloak with a hood concealing her face. He can just make out her light blue hair. Her eyes remain concealed. Under the robe is a long, purple, form-fitting dress. She lies on the ground, covered in blood, and in her hand she holds a strange-looking weapon. A dagger, but far too unwieldy looking for typical combat. Rather than being straight, the blade zigs and zags. The color suggests it's not even forged, but cut from some form of crystal.

Most impractical.

_Who's this… Who did the Echo…!_

A detached, almost atonal voice ends Taiasu's pondering.

"What are you doing there?"

The source of the voice pulls in his attention. If he'd had form, he'd have gasped. The man who had entered the student council room is the man who is speaking to this woman in his vision now.

_It's resonating with him, then._

He watches the scene as it continues to unfold.

The woman loses consciousness, and the man lifts her limp form, carrying her with him through the forest.

The scene dissolves, and another takes the place of it. A well-kept shrine. A small part of a much larger temple complex, by what he can see. They stand on the wooden floor amongst the many pillars which support the roof of the structure. An open air structure without walls, but a few wooden guard rails serve as guides for those who come visit to remain on the pathway into and around the shrine's open design.

Taiasu strokes his chin. Or he would if he had one here.

The woman wakes up to find the man still watching over her.

"So you've awakened. Can you tell me your circumstances?" He continues to speak in a detached and formal fashion, betraying not a hint of emotion.

The woman only stares up at him. Her hood is no longer up, so Taiasu can make out her features. Her eyes match her light blue hair, which is much longer than one could tell if they were considering her appearance while her hood was up. Her ears, like Taiasu's, are quite distinct. Unlike his rounded ears, hers come to a point. They also do not protrude so much and are serving well in enhancing her comeliness.

Yes, like many of the women he's seen since arriving in this world, this one is also quite fetching.

She doesn't answer the man who carried her. She only stares at him, eyes wide and form trembling.

"You can go home if I did something bothersome. If you wish for me to forget this night, then it will be so."

"No…" The first word the woman speaks is a refutation of his offer. "This is fine…"

The woman then speaks of many things, all of which fly so far over Taiasu's head they break escape velocity on their way out of the solar system.

A Holy Grail, Servants, Masters. She calls herself Caster. She speaks of having killed her master, and that she was about to disappear when the man had found her.

_Killed her… Master? She doesn't seem like a bad person… Why would she do that?_

As the woman finishes her unbelievable story, which Taiasu finds also incomprehensible, she asks the man a simple question.

"Do you believe such a story?"

Had he a form, Taiasu wouldn't have known whether to nod his head, or shake it.

_I don't know if I believe it or not, but I damn sure don't get it…_

"Was that a lie?" the man asks, his tone unchanged.

The woman offers only a single, solemn shake of her head. She extends her hand out toward him.

"I need… you to be with me tonight."

She says something even more unbelievable. The man's expression changes. The first and only time Taiasu has seen it change during what has felt like several hours. And it's so brief that the only reason he knows it changed is because the man only ever wears the same expression.

"I can… I must ask, though…"

He reaches out toward the woman.

"Do you prefer I be kind, or do you prefer I be rough?"

_Ah… ah! I'd like to leave now, please…!_

The Echo acquiesces as the man takes the woman into his embrace.

* * *

_Phew… That was… oh fu—!_

Taiasu comes out of the resonance just in time to avoid seeing a particularly intimate moment between the woman and the man. The same man who is now towering over and staring down at him.

Emiya is kneeling down, hand on his shoulder, gently shaking him.

He'd collapsed against the wall, and as last time, his concealment had failed the moment he found himself fully at the Echo's mercy.

Ryuudou is also aware of his presence and giving his full attention.

_I'm screwed. So screwed. I've got these swords, nobody in this world carries weapons. This can't be legal. I hope the prison cells are comfy…_

"He's coming around," Emiya says, sighing with relief.

The teacher nods, then speaks.

"Child, where are your parents."

Taiasu frowns and his eyes narrow reflexively. "Child? Hey, I'm—"

He clamps down on his tongue to keep himself from finishing the stupid thing he was about to say.

_Hold it, stupid! They think I'm a kid…? Maybe I can still get out of this…_

He hops to his feet and offers a shallow bow. "Sorry, I got lost looking for them. I didn't mean to disturb your meeting." He inches toward the still open door. "I can find them on my own, thanks for—"

"Why are you dressed like that?" Ryuudou asks, his head tilted to the side.

His entire body tenses. "Ah… this is a prop. My parents have me doing amateur stage performances as a hobby."

_This is the stupidest story ever, no way they buy it…_

"Are your parents' teachers here?" the teacher asks.

Taiasu shakes his head a couple times. "Not… teachers… They moved here recently and were trying to plan for my future. We were looking at schools to decide which to attend."

"Schools? This is a high-school," Emiya cuts in.

_Crap! I don't know what a high-school is! It must mean a school for older kids._

"Emiya. The child said his parents are planning for his future, so that must include his future schooling as well," Ryuudou says, sighing.

Taiasu nods eagerly.

_Oh, thank every god. Okay, small man. Speak less, speak a lot less._

Emiya scratches the back of his head. "Okay… but why would they bring him here… dressed like that?"

Ryuudou nods in agreement. "More than that, who would dress their child like that."

_Oh damn, oh gods, oh crap…_

"What… would I know. I'm just a kid, doing what my parents say…" Taiasu says through clenched teeth. "And I need to go find them. I'm sorry for disturbing your lunch—please excuse me!"

With that, he gives no chance for response as he runs from the room as fast as his short legs permit, forgetting that his short legs can carry him much faster than legs of that sort should.

Emiya pokes his head out of the room, seeing the child turning a corner at the end of the hall just a few seconds after he had bolted. A corner that is at least twenty meters from the door out through which he had just rushed.

_That's… definitely not normal._


	12. Which Cannot be Deceived

Taiasu slides around the corner, leaving Emiya, Ryuudou and the teacher with whom he the Echo had just resonated behind him, and conceals himself before collapsing against the nearest wall. His heart hammers against his rib-cage as he tries to catch his breath. Less the act of running away from a perilous situation, and more the situation itself, is what makes catching his breath and calming down necessary.

A situation perilous less to his health than his anonymity, but perilous nonetheless.

_That was… way too much…_

His ears pick up on the approach of a set of soft footsteps, and he turns his head in time to see Emiya poke around the corner. Taiasu can feel his entire form lock up as the boy looks up and down the hall.

_Okay, don't look down please… I just want… to catch my breath…_

He steps around the boy, hiding behind his back.

The boy sighs. "Weird… Something familiar about that kid…"

Taiasu frowns.

_I'm not a kid…_

Emiya shrugs, and makes his way back, and the small man remains glued to his shadow.

After school, Emiya leaves the classroom and Taiasu follows. Still on school grounds, they both make their way to a building with which he is well familiar; the archery range.

"Geez, what am I doing?" Emiya mutters to himself, sighing. "Shinji gets mad, and then he just doesn't know when to quit…"

Taiasu grins.

 _So he talks to himself too_ …

"Oh, Tohsaka's not here." Emiya lets another thought slip free.

"Oh, who's not here?"

An unexpected voice cuts into Emiya's apparent inner monologue, and Ryuudou, having gone unnoticed until now, is repeating himself.

"So… who's not here?" he asks again, arms crossed, eyes narrowed behind his glasses.

"Jeez, you scared me…" Emiya says, hand on his chest.

"If anyone around here was suspicious, it was you based on how you were looking at the dojo." Then he repeats his question a third time.

"Huh? Oh… Tohsaka. I heard she got into it with Shinji, so I was going to see what it was about."

Ryuudou raises an eyebrow. "Yeah, that's suspicious… You told me why, and I didn't even ask."

The boy huffs. "That's… How is what I do any of your concern?"

"True enough. But Tohsaka skipped school today, so I'm afraid your efforts here are in vain."

"Okay… how can you say she skipped just because she's not here?"

He stares at the ground, hands on his sides. "Well, she's never sick, so it's the only other possibility. You shouldn't let her deceive you."

Emiya shakes his head. "You're saying too much. She can't be that bad."

"So you're after her too? Sorry, please disregard my rude comment."

"I never said that! Don't put words in my mouth. I just thought it would be bad if Shinji got into trouble again."

"So, you were going to defend her from Shinji, then? It's your choice if you want to do things for no reward, I guess… Though I question your tastes, Emiya."

"I haven't even done anything, so what's there to reward? But what were you saying about my tastes?"

Ryuudou shrugs. "Just that pursuing her is in poor taste, is all."

"Okay, but why though. She's popular, and I haven't heard anything bad about her."

Ryuudou gazes at the ground. "Yes, and it's that which I find suspicious. No one can be that perfect."

Emiya's head tilts. "I… still don't understand."

Ryuudou folds his arms and goes on a rant. "Everything. The woman is a vixen and a monster. I just don't like her on an unconscious level. I won't say anything bad, but you should just be careful about her and trust my instincts on this."

Emiya eyes him. "Aren't you the one always saying we shouldn't talk about people behind their backs?"

"This doesn't count. If she were around, she could hear me, so it doesn't count."

The boy scratches his head awkwardly. "I still think you shouldn't…"

"Fine, if you say so. But I meant no insult. I am only saying to be on guard. There should be nothing wrong with that."

"Sure, except for that bit about her being a vixen and a monster."

Ryuudou shakes his head. "That was commendation. Good vixens and monsters are a thing, after all." He laughs for a few seconds, apparently having amused himself. "I'll be leaving. I have some work at the student council room. You have work, right? Do you have time to be idling around here like this?"

Not waiting for a response, he strolls away, and Emiya can only stare at his retreating form.

Taiasu's head is pressing into his shoulder.

_That was a lot of weird conversation._

* * *

Taiasu follows Emiya as he boards a large vehicle, taking care to avoid bumping into anyone or anything. He considers the apparatus as they ride for a while.

_This is… familiar. It reminds me of magitek, but it seems mundane._

The vehicle is large, appears to move under its own power, and serves as a shuttle, carrying groups of people from place to place. He remains near Emiya as he considers this new experience.

_It also feels less… clean._

The vehicle stops after crossing a large bridge, and the two disembark.

"Guess I have some time to kill…" Emiya mutters to himself.

He wanders through town, with the small man in tow, of course, and they come to an extensive park.

Taiasu glances around.

_This place looks… dead. Every blade of grass and every tree. Not a shred of green to in sight._

Emiya glances around as well. "Same as it ever was…"

Taiasu's feet shift restlessly as he glances toward the park.

_This place… It feels similar to a time locked space…_

"They should plant some grass or something… It's such a waste." Emiya continues muttering to himself.

The sound of a gong ringing five consecutive times cuts into the boy's thoughts, and his eyes widen a bit.

"Five already," he mutters.

Taiasu follows as he leaves the park. What comes is watching Emiya do hard labor involving lifting and hauling various construction materials. Large bags that form around his shoulder, blocks and bricks of assorted shapes and sizes, and bundles of some long, thin, metallic poles, the purpose of which the small man isn't savvy enough to grasp. Each being loaded into the open back of another four-wheeled vehicle.

Taiasu can offer not but a vacant stare. After a short time, his legs begin to twitch and he starts fidgeting with his hands. Finally, he heaves a weighty sigh.

_Okay… forget this. He's obviously working. He's going nowhere, so I'll be back later._

He yields to his tendencies and allows his feet to carry him where they will. Those feet take him back to the dead park where he spots something interesting. At the very least, something that feels out of place.

_Hm…?_

A girl. The girl with the long black hair stands before the park in her long, red dress coat. In fact, she's dressed exactly the same as she was the first time he'd seen her.

_Tohsaka… They said she skipped school. I guess it's true…?_

Curious, but mostly bored, he lets the 'red-head' be, and pursue this more interesting course instead. Though it proves more interesting because she seems to speak to someone he can't see. That, or she's talking to herself. He moves closer for a bit of a listen.

"This is Shinto's park. Now that we've seen all the important locations, what are your thoughts?" she asks… someone?

_That's not normal 'talking-to-yourself' behavior…_

Her tone and her appearance are not erratic, but quite normal.

_She's not nuts… or maybe she's practiced at being nuts?_

"It's a considerable park. But is there some reason there's no one here?" A voice from nothing confirms her sanity, and Taiasu has to keep himself from blurting out loud.

His eyes dart around, attempting to discern the source of the voice, and find nothing.

Tohsaka offers only a solemn nod. "So it shows, huh? That's because of the history of this place." She stares out over the park for a few minutes, looking around before speaking to her invisible, but very real, friend. "About a decade ago. This huge fire burned for an entire day. It went out just as it started to rain, in some cruel twist of irony." Her gaze falls to the ground as she speaks, and her eyes close for a few seconds. "They rebuilt the town, but this place hasn't changed. From the ashes, they built it into this park."

She continues talking, her voice sounding sad. "This is where the last Holy Grail War ended."

Taiasu's ears twitch.

_Holy… Grail War…? Wait. Didn't that woman… Caster? Didn't she say something about a Holy Grail?_

Tohsaka's explanation to her invisible friend continues. "I don't know everything, but this place has been like this ever since that day."

"… I see. That explains all the grudges I feel here," the voice says. Her imaginary real friend maintains an even tone.

"You can sense those sorts of things?"

"Servants are spirits. We're similar to grudges and formed obsessions."

Taiasu's invisible head tilts to one side.

_Wait… Servant, there's that word again.. Servant, Servant… what is that? Spirits? Like, ghosts? Even that Caster woman said it before they…_

He can feel his face heating as he recalls the last few moments before that vision cut out.

The voice goes on.

"We're sensitive to the like for that reason. A few places in town felt similar, but this is far beyond them. It feels like a Reality Marble."

Taiasu almost opens his mouth to ask.

_Reality Marble…?_

The girl stares vacantly at the park, lost in her thoughts.

"Rin?"

"No, it's fine. I was just surprised. That you know the term 'Reality Marble' seemed unlikely for an Archer."

"Is it that strange?"

"Of course! It's taboo even among the taboos. It makes no sense an Archer would know about it."

The voice heaves a heavy sigh before continuing.

"Heroes have to be multifaceted. It's fine if you want to think that an Archer is bound only to bows, but if you hang onto such naïve misconceptions, then you'll be in trouble facing the other servants."

The girl sighs. "All right, I get it… It was a careless thing to say, so I'll be careful from now on. Is that okay?"

Taiasu's brow shifts upward.

_She… doesn't enjoy yielding very much._

The disembodied voice continues. "You're quite skilled and powerful, but to be honest, that makes you underestimate others. It's something you must work on."

The small man can almost hear the smirk in the voice.

It seems Tohsaka can too, and she frowns. "That's… really rude."

"I think you took it the wrong way." The voice without a body continues to poke fun at her. "I only spoke like that because it seemed to fit your personality."

"That's even worse…!"

She winces, grabbing her right arm.

"—Rin?"

"Stop talking, Archer."

_Archer…? Wait, that's his name?_

"—Someone's watching us…"

_FU—!_

Taiasu stumbles backward.

_NO WAY!_

The girl holds out her hand, and he can feel something otherwise imperceivable passing over him. His eyes widen to saucers.

_AH, AH! I wanted to introduce myself, but this is… NOT THE BEST WAY!_

After a few moments, the girl sighs.

"… Can't find them… Archer? Can you sense them?"

"… I can't even feel the stare."

Taiasu heaves a relieved sigh as his panic alert level goes from 'Defconn brown-pants' to 'Stand down and go clean up'.

Tohsaka's eyes narrow. "Must be a Master then…"

_Master…? So it wasn't me? Wait, what's a master? I mean, I know what a master is, but not in this context…_

"Command Spells react to the like," Archer says. "Then as a Master, that means you can recognize your own when you see them, so you should be able to identify this one too, yes?"

_Command… Spells…?_

Taiasu's internal note-taking device has gained quite a few blank spaces over the past little while, and he goes over them in his head.

 _Reality Marble… Servants… Holy Grail War… Masters… Command Spells…_ _That woman, Caster… She spoke of a few of these things as well…_

An eager grin splits his face lengthwise.

_Sounds like an adventure, alright…_

"Generally, but skilled magus can conceal them by shutting off their Magic Circuit," Tohsaka says, answering the question the voice had asked. "That's what happened here, it seems…"

"Then they're baiting us…"

"Seems so," Tohsaka says, shrugging. "Well, I can shut mine off too… probably. I'll have to look around my house to find something first… But if I leave it open, they'll come to us, right? That'll save us the trouble of looking for them."

The voice sighs again, but says nothing.

"What? You think I'm being overconfident?"

"No, it's fine. You can string the small fry along for a bit."

The girl turns and begins walking away from the park. Taiasu steps aside to avoid her bumping into him. Then a chill runs down his spine, and his hairs stand on end.

_Huh…?_

"Rin."

She stops. "Yeah, I know."

He stares at her.

_Huh? She knows what?_

She resumes her stride, and Taiasu follows in her shadow now, unable to shake the feeling that someone is still watching his every move.

Tohsaka and the disembodied voice make their way through town, stopping at various locations and sites, and even a place to grab some food. Taiasu follows along, his stomach growling at that last instance.

_Going to have to eat soon…_

The girl stands up from her table and heads out, and Taiasu continues in their wake, smirking at something.

_Maybe the old man meant 'hot-head'? She seems like she could have some hot-headed tendencies… At the very least, it's been infinitely more interesting than watching the boy move stuff around…_

The girl makes her way into an immensely tall building, and Taiasu follows. She stands in front of two sets of doors recessed into a wall. She presses a single button between them, and with a chime, one set of doors opens, revealing a room with no exit. The girl steps through the door into the room, and Taiasu follows. She presses another button on a panel with at least forty different buttons. The button lights up as the door in front of them closes.

Then he feels the floor shift underneath him.

_Ah… this must be a lift…_

"Rin. They're still…"

She nods. "I know. Not here. Not yet."

Again, the hairs on the back of the small man's neck bristle.

Their ascent concludes and the doors to the lift open. Tohsaka steps out, with Taiasu behind her. She ascends a few more flights of stairs to reach her destination. After several flights, they come out on the roof, high above the city streets. She casts her gaze over the city skyline.

"Grand view, don't you think, Archer?"

Though unasked, Taiasu only nods his silent agreement. Then he pokes his head over the edge.

_Uh…_

And quickly takes a step back as his view spins.

_Heights… I didn't know I was… afraid of heights…_

He falls backward with a soft plop.

"I'll pray for the man you make yours. All you've done is drag me along all day…"

Tohsaka frowns. "What was that, Archer?"

"Just thinking out loud… But this is a nice place. We should have come here first and saved all that time we spent walking around."

She sighs. "What are you even saying? It's a pleasant view, but you need to walk around the town to know the layout. Otherwise, all you have is a vague idea."

"Untrue. Archer isn't just a fancy title, and you can't shoot properly if you don't have an acute sense of sight."

Her eyes widen slightly. "Really? So can you see my house, Archer?"

"It's not that good… I can't see as far as the neighboring town. The best I can see is the bridge, but I can count the number of tiles on it at least." His tone carries no trace of conceit.

"The tiles…!? That's… You really are Archer…"

"I'd like to think you're not actually making fun of me, Rin."

She shrugs. "Of course not. I just thought you don't feel like an Archer."

"I must ask you what you mean by that once we get home." The voice carries a note of irritation.

The girl steps away from the source of the voice and moves closer to one edge of the roof. Seeing her approach the edge makes Taiasu's stomach flip and flop, remembering his recently discovered loathing of high places. At least, high places from which he could plummet toward a sudden and unceremonious stop.

The adventuring lifestyle affords many advantages to those who choose to pursue it. One such advantage is having access to a varied array of beasts and machines that one can use to traverse vast distances in little time and even ascend to dizzying heights. High altitudes are not a new thing for him, but without access to one of these, there is the definite concern of a quick and painful end after having fallen just long enough a time to wish well every friend he has ever made.

The girl scrutinizes the ground below. "One has to be based here…" Her sweeping gaze stops as something catches her notice. "From below…?"

"Did you find something, Rin?"

"No.. Just someone I know. No one who has anything to do with this."

_Someone she knows?_

"Rin, don't you think it's time we…?"

She turns from the edge of the roof.

"Yeah, I think so too."

_Hm? They're leaving? Well, I suppose this is as good—_

Tohsaka scans the roof, her arms folded across her chest. "Well, they've been around since the park. If we can force them out, maybe we can eliminate an enemy early."

_Huh? Someone since the park?_

Taiasu can feel those eyes on him again, and his hair on his neck stands stiff.

_Uh oh…_

"How do you plan on doing that? Are we just going to blow up the roof?"

The girl scoffs. "Nothing so flashy. We have to maintain some anonymity."

"But you can't just force a Servant that's not yours to materialize, can you? Unless there's a spell you have that I don't know."

Taiasu shakes his head slowly.

_No… It's not a servant… Whatever that even is._

"Well, I suppose we could just ask nicely." Tohsaka says. She narrows her eyes and directs her stare—

"Don't you think it's time you show yourself and greet us proper?"

—right at him.

Taiasu sighs.

_Damn…_

"Well?" Tohsaka says, staring at him. "We don't have all night."

_I mean… I wanted to introduce myself… so maybe this is better…?_

After taking in a deep breath, he lets it out over a couple seconds, steels himself, and drops his concealment. "I mean, it was clear you knew I was here, but I'd still like to know…?"

He begins asking the obvious question, but the appearance of an imposing figure, hiding the girl from view, puts an end to that.

A man, tall and tan with white hair, steel-colored eyes, a matching red jacket and waist cape covering his form-fitting black chest piece and pants. His face bears what can only be a well-practiced, condescending scowl.

The sudden appearance forces Taiasu back a few steps.

"I can't believe it. That… That worked…?" He can hear Tohsaka's voice, laden with surprise, from behind the new figure, who nods.

"Yes. Neither can I, but let us deal with this before they choose to flee, yes?"

"Yeah. You can take care of them, Archer," Tohsaka says, surprise having melted from her voice.

Saying nothing, one weapon appears in each of Archer's hands. One blade black, the other white. The black blade contains a yin-yang symbol at the hilt, the white of which extends to a point halfway into the blade, and the white blade contains the same symbol, only in this case it's the black that extends into the blade.

Antithetical mirrored sibling swords.

Archer is on him in a second, swinging his blades down and across.

_Oh, shi—!_

Taiasu rolls backward, and lands on his feet as the weapons cut across where just was.

"No, wait! This is just—!"

He stops trying to explain as Archer moves forward in a blur, swinging both swords down in an 'X' pattern.

_He's faster than that other guy…!_

The small man rolls to the side, and the blades strike the ground, sending sparks outward.

"Please, just wait a second! I was only—!"

Again, Archer's unabated assault cuts him off.

"If you have time to speak, might I suggest you use it to draw your weapons? You are insulting my pride."

Taiasu twists, ducks, and weaves between each attack. "But I don't want to fight!"

Each time Archer swings his weapons, they come closer and closer to hitting their mark.

His eyes narrow as he bares his teeth in a sneer. "Absurd. There is no Servant who does not desire battle. Your poor attempt at deception is an insult!"

_Damn it…!_

For the first time since arriving in this world, Taiasu's hands find their place at his weapons, and he draws them from their respective sheathes. For kodachi, the blades are quite long, bearing the signature style of a ninja's weapons. Thin and vorpal. Each blade could cut to, and through, bone in the hands of a well-trained assassin. Black, and beyond their deadly appearance, they are quite plain.

Designed in mind with function over form, they are quite unpronounced.

Each comes up and locks against one of Archer's, sending another small shower of sparks into the night. The position is disadvantageous. The last attack has forced him onto his back, and Archer is using gravity and his full weight, forcing his blades down.

"See? Your pathetic ruse has failed, so just die with dignity. I'll at least grant you a quick and painless death!"

The blades inch closer.

"What… ruse…?!" Taiasu says, struggling.

_Damn… it…!_

A cloud obscures the small man's form and Archer's weapons pass through, leaving wispy trails in their wake.

"What…!" On his feet in a second, Archer spins around and spots him before he finishes reappearing some distance away. "That's good. I was afraid this might not be a challenge." Archer says, smirking. He rushes across the roof, closing the distance in an instant.

"Damn it, will you just wait!" Taiasu's weapons are at his sides. "I said I don't want—!"

"The time for talk is over!" Archer yells, barreling down.

"Yeah, apparently it was never even a thing…!"

Their blades again come against each other, but now on his feet, Taiasu denies Archer the advantage of gravity. Still, being taller than two of him affords a significant advantage during this melee.

_Maybe I could turn into a log…?_

Taiasu slaps his head internally.

_Yeah, that was never even a thing…_

Archer's sneer turns into a frustrated scowl. "Are you ever going to take this seriously?!"

He brings his weapons down and through, breaking their blade-lock, and preparing to strike again.

"I _AM_ taking this seriously…!" Taiasu says, plaintively. "You're just not listening to me!"

He lunges backward, away from Archer's next two swings, and then to the side to avoid one that comes after.

"Stand… still!"

"So you can gut me?!"

"YES!"

"Why would I do…?"

Taiasu lunges backward, avoiding another of Archer's lethal cross-slashes, but the time between when his feet disconnect from the solid surface, and when they should have reconnected is a touch disconcerting.

Archer's eyes are wide, and his mouth slacks.

Tohsaka's face is a near perfect mirror of Archer's.

Taiasu doesn't even need to look down, but he does anyway. Below him, below his feet, is the city street.

Far, far below.

His mouth goes slack as his eyes widen. His brain overheats as it searches for a way to prevent its own death. He can feel the color drain from his face. His grip on his weapons nearly fails.

"Oh… gods… damn… everything…"

Gravity is an instant from taking over what Archer has been trying to do for the past several minutes. Before that natural force can commandeer him, a dark cloud again obscures his form, and he reappears, clinging to Tohsaka's legs, shaking so hard she can feel it in the pendant around her neck.

"Hah… hah… I thought I was gonna die…!"

Tohsaka's stare shifts from the cloud to the form clutching her legs. Archer, who has also been trying to make something of this absurdity, finds his gaze now drawn toward her.

Tohsaka's mouth forms a line on her face as her eyes narrow.

"Archer…"

"Yeah…"

Some uncommunicated thought reaches the man and his blades vanish.

The small man continues to tremble. "Just… let me… explain… please… I can… explain… please…"

"Let's hear him out… I don't think this guy's a Servant… At least, not a proper one. If we don't like what he has to say, you can…"

Archer only nods.

A short time later, her strange new house-guest is stuffing his face with food as fast as he can shovel it in.

"This is amazing…!" Taiasu says between bites. "I thought I could cook well, but this is beyond anything!" He grins, his feet dangling from the floor as he sits in the chair, as tall as the table's surface.

Tohsaka sits on the opposite side, staring in wonder.

As he processes his current mouthful of food, he glances around the room.

Four oak dining chairs with beige seat cushions surround the rectangular, polished oak table at which he currently eats. The one he occupies sits at the narrow end of the table, and the girl occupies the one opposite him. The two seats in which they sit have cushioned backs, while the two to his left have their backs left open.

To his right is a comfortable looking couch, matching the chairs surrounding the table, and the chairs, couch and table all sit atop a deep red-colored rug. The rug rests on a cream-colored carpet that covers the entire living/dining area.

In the corner of the room behind him and to his right, Archer stands in front of a tall Grandfather Clock, silently scrutinizing his every word and gesture. Two windows flank Archer and the clock, each with sheer curtains drawn, and each flanked on both sides by red blackout curtains held in place by red cloth loops fastened to the frame.

Behind Taiasu rests a fine oak half-cabinet with three drawers. A fancy desk lamp rests atop the cabinet, flanked by two jade colored statues. Above the lamp hangs a painting of someone he doesn't recognize.

After all, why would he?

Behind him, to his left, next to the cabinet is another window with a drawn sheer curtain and two more blackout curtains held in place on either side of it by red cloth loops fastened to the window's frame. In front of the window sit two chairs, both matching the ones to his immediate right. The walls of the living space are painted to match well with the carpet and tie the entire room together quite nicely.

Everything is well kept and orderly, and shows the pride the owner takes in keeping things tidy.

Taiasu spends perhaps too much time considering the surroundings, as he turns his head back to his host and finds her staring heatedly at him.

He had tried explaining about himself on the roof, but his stomach kept interrupting, being unsated for the past two days. He'd refused, or rather, been unable to keep his focus long enough to explain more than a few sentences before his words devolved into a series of appetizers, meals, and desserts, many of which she'd never heard before. Begrudgingly, Tohsaka had prepared the quickest, easiest meal she could think of after they had returned to her residence.

Before, what she could only describe as a very faithful ninja cosplay, replete with actual kodachi, had graced his form. After she had presented the meal, that changed. He had taken from his pack an amber-colored stone with three parallel lines etched into its surface. When he held the stone in his hand, a shining light enveloped his form while the air shook around him. Once the light had subsided, he was wearing an entirely different set of attire. A complete set of leather gloves, boots, pants, and jacket, all varying shades of red, and a red mantle and cape which stopped about his knees. His weapons had vanished, and as far as she could tell, he was no longer armed.

"Okay, so let's start from the beginning," the girl says, staring at this apparent child.

He sits there, continuing to shovel her humble meal into his face like it's the first time he's tasted proper food.

"Ophkay…." Taiasu says, and Tohsaka palms her face.

"Swallow, please. Then talk."

His eyes widen for a second, and he forces the mouthful of food down, pounding his chest. "Right, sorry. It's just good…" he says, face split by a broad grin.

"It's noodles and broth with some egg… It's not even proper to call it ramen…" she says, shaking her head.

"Well, it's been days since I ate proper…" he says, his gaze dropping.

Tohsaka's eyes grow slightly. "Days…?"

"Yeah… I mean, I ate before I left. That was two days ago."

"Alright, well that aside… let's start at the beginning. You say you're not a Servant?" she asks, and Taiasu shakes his head.

"Nope. That other girl before said that too, but I met her on the ground, so it wasn't as scary…" he says. He shudders, recalling his near plummet of not even an hour ago.

Her head tilts slightly.

"Other… girl…?" she says, forgetting the very next thing she was going to ask.

Apparently, Taiasu has an innate talent for derailing every conversation, ever.

"Yeah! She was short… well, I mean, she was taller than I am, but everyone is." He looks up, grinning again. "But she was shorter than you guys. She looked young…" Taiasu looks at the food, about to dig in again, but Tohsaka reaches across the table and smacks his hand, causing him to recoil.

"Ow! Why…?"

She leans forward, eyes narrowing.

"Talk now. Eat later."

"Right, sorry…" he says, turning a shade of red and looking down. "That was rude… I'm sorry."

Her eyes stop narrowing and widen slightly. "It's… fine. Anyway, with that stunt on the roof, it was apparent you weren't a Servant," she says, folding her hands in front of her face.

"I said I wasn't…" he says, a bit upset. "But everyone has just been greeting me by trying to kill me. Is that normal in your culture?"

Her chair tips backward, but she manages to right it. "Wh-what!? No! But.. _YOU'RE_ not normal…!" She palms her face, thinking of a way to bring the conversation back on track. "Okay… so you were there in the park…"

It's not a question, but he nods anyway.

"Yup. It surprised me when you were talking to nobody, but I was even more surprised when nobody started talking back," he says, smiling and sated now that he's been able to quell his raging appetite.

"Right… That was when Archer first saw you. After that—"

"I wondered… I felt someone watching me, but I couldn't see… Wait. Why didn't you say anything then?"

Tohsaka's brow half-arches. "Huh? Well… we weren't in a place to figure it out yet. On the ground, where people could see everything that was going on. We have to keep a low profile. Normal people can't know about us."

Taiasu's head tilts. "How did you know I was there? You said Archer saw me, but I didn't hear him tell you…"

"Servants and Masters can communicate nonverbally. He told me as soon as he saw you that someone was there. Anyway, after that, you were following us around. All those places we went, that restaurant, and then to that rooftop."

She stares at the table, pressing her head into her folded hands.

"Why?" Tohsaka asks a question after reviewing everything.

Taiasu shrugs. "I was bored…"

Tohsaka's chair falls backward, and she slams hard into the ground.

"Because you were **_BORED?!"_**

She leaps to her feet as she yells this, and Taiasu shrinks back, nodding.

 _Did her head just get bigger_ … _?_

Her only response is another beleaguered palming of her face.

"Yeah… I'd been following that other guy… the kid with the red hair… What did the glasses guy say his name was… Emiya!" he yells, then covers his mouth quickly. He lets his hands drop after a second.

"I'd been following him around, but it got boring, so I wandered off, and then I saw you." He leans forward some now that her head has returned to normal proportions. "I saw you at the school, and then the glasses guy said you skipped, so I was curious… Then I heard you talking to yourself, and… well, it seemed a lot more interesting than watching Emiya move stuff from place to place."

The girl's eyes narrow again. "You've been following Emiya-kun around?"

Taiasu nods.

She sighs. "For how long?"

"Since I got here yesterday."

"So… for two days, then."

He nods again.

"I'm going to have a hangover from this, but I still have to ask—why?"

"Because the old man asked me to." Again, he says this like he's explaining something someone should already know.

"Okay…" She stops herself, and her brow half-arches again. "Wait, what old man?"

"The old man who asked me to come here. Well, he's not old, he just acts old…" Taiasu says. "He seems really sad too, but he tries to hide—"

"Okay, stop talking now." Tohsaka truncates his meandering rambling. "So this old man, what do you mean when you say he 'asked you to come here'?" she says. She lowers her guard some, having seen his behavior and mannerisms. Hearing his story is making her more and more curious.

"Ah…" Taiasu looks down. "The girl asked that too… It shocked me when I learned this wasn't Hydaelyn… But I got over it. I heard you talking about all that stuff with Archer at the—"

Tohsaka slams her palms on the table. " ** _FOCUS_** , PIPSQUEAK!"

He shrinks back a bit, but then nods.

"Ah, right… Sorry…" He takes in a deep breath and lets it out slowly. "So… This is Earth, but I'm not from here. I'm from a world called 'Hydaelyn'. The old man… He told me to call him 'Watcher', but I think 'old man' suits him better… That guy didn't say much, but he really didn't need to…" He looks down again. "I enjoy going places, and meeting new people, so this—" He gestures around the room and to the girl and the man in the corner "—has been pretty fun and exciting for me. And I've enjoyed adventuring for a while now. I wish he'd told me I was going to a different planet, though…"

Tohsaka frowns, arms crossed and tapping her finger. "There are only a few things you said in that entire sentence I understood. So let's start from the top. What's 'Hydaelyn'?"

Taiasu sits upright. "The world I'm from."

"Okay, good. So you said you came here from there?"

He nods.

"Why?"

His head tilts slightly. "I… told you. The old man asked me to."

Her head becomes heated. "Right… but… I mean… why would you just… accept a request like that…?"

"Huh? Why wouldn't I?" His head tilts further. "I mean, I was suspicious at first, but it's not the first time I've accepted a strange request."

She takes in a series of deep breaths of her own to regain some composure. "Okay… Alright… Just… Alright… So you're saying you're from another planet?" Tohsaka says, shaking her head.

He nods.

"And that you're here because some old guy asked you to come here… What did he ask you to do when you got here?"

"Eh?" Taiasu looks down. "That's the weird part… He didn't really ask me to _do_ anything… I mean, except for what I do when I come to a new place. You know, adventurer stuff."

He says this like everyone should know it, and Tohsaka's head slams into the table. Sitting up, she rubs the forming red circle gingerly as her eye twitches.

"What… what is… 'adventurer stuff'…?"

"You know? Adventurer stuff? Talk to people, help them out if they need it, maybe take something from one place to another… I mean, and fight monsters if I need to, but I've only seen one since I got—"

"Okay, fine, I get it, so stop talking now. I need to think."

Taiasu closes his mouth… for a few seconds before he resumes scarfing more egg and noodles.

Tohsaka remains in quiet contemplation for a few minutes as Taiasu finishes the food with which she has provided him. After slurping down the broth, he wipes his mouth, which turns upward in another satisfied smile before his attention returns to Tohsaka, whose head looks moments away from immolation as she tries to comprehend the incomprehensible.

Here at her table, a midget claiming to be from another planet had just wolfed down a bowl of plain food like it was his last meal as a condemned man. A person with the strength to fight on par with a Servant who yet somehow also dodges off the side of a forty-story skyscraper.

The small man allows a few minutes of uncomfortable silence to pass before speaking up.

"Um… Tohsaka…?"

"From another planet…? What's with all this?"

"Tohsaka?" he says again, a bit louder.

"We have enough going on… What are we supposed to do with this now…?"

"Rin…?" Taiasu tries her 'other' name, and her focus snaps to him, her brow drawing into a point.

"Don't call me that… Wait… How do you know my name…?" Her brow relaxes before lifting. "I never told you."

"Ah… well, when I was following Emiya around… He said it when you guys met yesterday… And then I heard that shy girl with the purple hair say your other name—AH!" Taiasu stands up in his chair. "With everything happening, I totally forgot!"

He hops down and walks up to her. His sudden movement puts Archer on guard, but Tohsaka only eyes him and shakes her head.

"I'm sorry I waited so long, but I'm Taiasu. Taiasu Taruko, from Hydaelyn. Thank you for the food, and for not killing me…? I feel like I said something similar already…" He bows at the waist, cutting his already diminutive stature to below her knee. Tohsaka only tilts her head, and Archer smirks sardonically.

"It's… fine, I guess…? Nice to meet you, Taruko-kun."

He rights himself, smiling as he nods, and makes his way back to his seat.

"It's nice to meet you as well… There were a few other things… I kept getting distracted but the old man said three things…" he says, looking down. "He said to keep a low-profile, which I… failed at doing…"

Tohsaka smirks at this obvious statement. "Also, he said… to 'follow the 'red-head'', and that's why I was following Emiya. He was the only person I'd seen with red hair. There was another, but her hair was reddish-brown… or brownish-red…"

"Ayako," Tohsaka says from his description.

"Huh? Oh, right. Emiya called her 'Mitsuzuri'…"

He folds his arms across his chest, still staring at the floor. "Hey, can I ask you something? I mean, another thing besides that?"

Her head tilts. "Huh?"

"Well… I mean, 'Can I ask you something?' is already a question, so I'd have to ask 'Can I ask you two things'…"

Taiasu says this with a sincere tone and Archer palms his face.

"Is this guy even for real?" he says.

"Come on, it's cute," Tohsaka says, laughing. "But sure, go ahead."

"Okay… I noticed it in the classroom, but… the way you all address each-other is…" He swallows before continuing. "Weird."

He looks up.

Tohsaka has stopped laughing, and her eye twitches again.

"Weird?"

"Ah, I'm sorry! That was rude! I didn't mean it like that! I meant it confuses me a lot!" he says, his words tumbling out.

Her eye twitch subsides, but she still bears a sharp frown. "Okay… what's confusing about it?"

"Well… like… the glasses guy… People called him 'Issei', but I heard other people call him 'Ryuudou'… And then that jerk with blue hair… Emiya called him 'Shinji', but then glasses-guy called him 'Matou'…" Taiasu says, rubbing the sides of his head. "Emiya called you 'Tohsaka', but Archer keeps calling you 'Rin'… and you got mad when I called you 'Rin'… I didn't want to upset or offend, but it just… I don't understand…"

Tohsaka's eyes widen and she nods. "I see… That could be confusing if you're not used to it, so I'll explain. Usually, given names, 'Rin' in my case, only people close to each other use. Family, close friends, lovers, and the like. Unless someone gives express permission, it's better to either ask, or just use their family name, which in my case is 'Tohsaka'. Does that help?"

"So, I should only call you 'Tohsaka' then? Okay, and then everyone else… that makes sense… Thanks…" he says, nodding. Some other as yet unspoken thought plays across his face and he turns a shade of red. "Ah… wait, so Archer calls you 'Rin'… does that mean you guys are l… l… l-l-l-… lovers?"

***SLAM***

Tohsaka falls back in her chair again, her head plowing hard into the floor, while Archer erupts, laughing hysterically. The red in Taiasu's face deepens a few more shades.

"I'm sorry, was that a rude question to ask?"

Archer only doubles in laughter, which in seconds devolves into a coughing fit, while Tohsaka launches herself up from the floor to obliterate this critical misunderstanding.

"Like **_HELL_** , and **_NEVER SAY THAT AGAIN!"_**

Taiasu presses his back into his seat.

_Fire? Did she just… breathe fire? No, I'm imagining things._

"I'm sorry… But you said—"

 ** _"NOTHING. OF. THE. SORT._** That's just how he is, and I've had to learn to deal with it!" she says, stomping her foot.

"Ah… I understand… I'm sorry, I jumped to a hasty conclusion…" he says, bowing in his seat.

The gesture serves to dull Tohsaka's frustration.

"No… I mean, I can see how you might have drawn that conclusion… Wait." Tohsaka's brow arches. "Why lovers?"

"Huh? What do you mean?" he says.

"Well, I said 'family, close friends, and lovers'. Why was that your first assumption?" she asks, her tone serious now.

"I'm not sure… You didn't look related… Wait, are you his sister—"

She lifts him up by the head before he can finish speaking and squeezes both sides until his face turns red.

"Stop. Talking. Now."

Her voice drips venom, while Archer collapses to the floor, red in the face, wheezing for breath.

Taiasu nods, but with his body suspended in the air by his head, still held firmly in place by Tohsaka's hands on either side, it results in his body swaying back and forth. She takes this as his understanding and releases her grip, causing him to plop softly into his chair.

The girl sits back in her chair and stares at the small man for a few seconds more. He glances down at the bowl and sighs.

"Something wrong? You can't still be hungry, small as you are," she says, smirking. "I've seen few people eat that much that quickly…"

"No… nothing was wrong with it… It just felt lacking… somehow." He stares at the bowl, but the heated sensation he can from the one seated in front of him captures his attention. As he looks up, he can see Tohsaka's face reddening as she bares her teeth.

"No, no! It's not what you think, it was very good!" he says, shrinking back. "I promise!"

_She's… frightening. I'll need to be more careful with what I say._

"It's nothing you could do anything about…" he says, sighing again as he reaches into his pack and pulls from it six distinct aether clusters, laying them out in two groups of three.

The battle with Archer had been draining. Not so much he was in danger, but having augmented his natural agility with his aethereal reserves had taxed them significantly. And needing to avoid death twice, the first being from Archer's blades, and the second from his own lack of situational awareness, had also been draining.

Tohsaka watches intently, teeth receding behind her lips, and her color returning to normal. Each stone glows softly with a distinct color. Crystalline in structure and appearance, yet none are like any she has ever seen. All are identical in shape, but differ in color; one amber, one violet, one crimson, one larimar, one sapphire and one emerald. She watches as Taiasu rests one hand on each group. He closes his eyes and the color from each stone fades, and after a few seconds vanishes.

Her eyes widen. "What?" Her mouth slacks as she looks up from the stones to the small man who seems to have just consumed their essence.

"It's the aether…" he says. "It's lacking in this world, if it's even present at all. On Hydaelyn, it's everywhere. The water we drink, the air we breathe, even the food we eat. We need it to live. When I came here, I almost died because there wasn't any. These sustain me."

He lifts one of the spent crystals and pays it proper consideration.

Tohsaka reaches over and grabs one. "I know something about gemstones, but I've never seen anything like this…"

"No, I should think you wouldn't have," he says, shaking his head. "They're native to Hydaelyn and the worlds connected to it."

She turns the inert stone in her hand. One of the sharp edges catches on her finger, and she winces as a minute drop of blood falls to its surface. Her mouth slacks again as the stone absorbs something from her blood and regains a miniscule measure of its former glow, though not the same hue. The color shifts between one of four—crimson, amber, silver, and lapis—at regular intervals. Her eyes widen and shine as she comes to understand the implications. Taiasu is too busy collecting and storing the remaining stones to notice.

"How… many of these do you have?" she says. Her mouth turns upward in a smile so wide and eager that the corners of it reach the corners of her eyes.

"Huh? A few, why…?"

He looks up and sees her staring at the stone with a scary, hungry look in her eyes. Then he notices the crystal has regained some of its glow.

"Wait, what?"

He reaches for it, but she moves it out of his grasp.

"I'll take this as compensation for your meal, and a place to stay tonight," she says. "Well, the meal. I wasn't planning on letting you run around doing god only knows what."

His eyes narrow. "Wait, why do you want the crystal? I mean, it's worthless to me now… But if you're going to do something bad with it, I can't just let you have it."

"Settle down, short man," she says, grinning. "Nothing of the sort. These things are like capacitors. It takes a long time to store magical energy into a gemstone, but this thing sucked it up like it was water in a desert. I'll need to do some experimenting to know how much they can hold, and what their uses are, but if I'm right… I'll never want for money or jewels… You said a few, right?"

Taiasu nods, but his eyes narrow further. "I… appreciate the offer… but your face is a little concerning."

She gives a near maniacal laugh. "What's concerning? I'm not interested in world domination or anything! I just don't want to keep spending money on jewels, and if there's an alternative, I'd be stupid not to seize it!"

His eyes stop narrowing as he rubs his chin.

_So she's not a megalomaniac. She's just… frugal. I can appreciate that. And I owe her a lot. I mean, not just for the food, but she also stopped Archer from killing me._

He sighs. "Um… okay… I'm still not super comfortable with it, but I owe you a lot. You might start with something a little less… potent."

He reaches into his pack and pulls out one of his six spent shards, and one of his twelve spent crystals. Tohsaka's eyes grow wider with each second as she reaches out with her hand.

"How… many did you say you have?"

"Hold on, I need to tell you a few things first!" he says, hugging them away from her reach. "This is a bunch of uncharted territory. I've never even heard of them being used like this. Discovering it was just a happy accident that saved my life."

She withdraws her hand. "Alright, spill and be quick," she says, folding her arms and narrowing her eyes.

He offers as succinct an explanation as he can about the crystals. How he uses them, their relative density levels, and overstating his lack of understanding about why the crystals are even behaving how they are. Tohsaka listens well to the information about the density levels, but her eyes glaze over as soon as he talks about knowing sweet little and less about the details.

"So I'd start with these," Taiasu says, holding up a shard. "At least if it explodes, you might not die… And you'll know how much it can hold. Once you know that, you can do whatever with the rest."

"Sure, sure… So, any you've not exhausted? I want to run an experiment to see just how powerful these things are."

He nods again. "The smallest ones drain fast… After less than a second. I'll toss it to you, since I can't control that. Just let me know when you're ready."

"Sure, just toss one over," she says, shrugging. "I'll catch it, no problem."

"Alright…" Taiasu reaches into his pack and flips one of the crimson-colored shards from it toward Tohsaka, who's deft reflexes allow her to catch it with ease.

"Ah! Hot…? Wait, it's not hot…" she says after almost dropping it. "Why did I think this was hot?"

"That's crystalized, condensed fire aspected aether," he says. "I'm not an authority on the details, but maybe it's just an instinct you have…" He strokes his chin, looking toward the floor. "That makes me wonder if the magical energy of this world is so incompatible with the aether of my world."

Archer, Tohsaka and Taiasu gather in a spacious area outside of her house. The most noteworthy feature is the large empty basin. Besides that, there is little of note. The yard is fenced in and has a well-manicured lawn with a few trees standing on the outside of the fence.

"We'll use the pool to run the test," she says, eyeing the small flame-aspected shard in her hand. "You said these were the lowest, so that should give us an idea of what the other two grades can do."

The small man swallows hard. "I'm… not sure this is such a great idea."

For some reason, the image of a mushroom cloud continues to pop into his head.

"It'll be fine," she says with an eager grin.

She holds the small shard in her left hand and extends her left arm outward. An intricate pattern on her arm glows with a soft blue light.

* * *

It wasn't as bad as it could have been.

A few moments after Tohsaka's arm started shining, the glow within the shard intensified. The moment she detected it fracturing, she used her magical energy as a shield to protect her from any blow-back. The result was a heated crimson frontal conal blast wave that shot forward for about five meters.

Her quick thinking had protected her from any harm and dictated the blast shape. The 'experiment' had generated a shockwave that blew back her twin tails. It had also produced a bright enough flash to negate the night's darkness for a sound few moments.

The pool was still intact.

Mostly.

The ground smolders where the blast scorched it, after overshooting the pool. The vegetation releases its last gasps as a wispy smoke into the night air.

Tohsaka frowns.

_How the hell am I going to explain this to a pool technician…_

Taiasu's eyes are blank.

"Thank every god we used the lowest grade first," he says in a complete monotone.

The mushroom cloud in his head now feels completely inadequate to describe the chaos and destruction wrought had they chosen to use a crystal, or worse, a cluster. Tohsaka looks at her hand where the shard had been. A few wisps of smoke and fragments are all that remain, yet her hand is little worse for the wear.

"So that's the lowest grade… What did you say about the other two?"

Taiasu snaps from his shock. "Yeah… Crystals are about twenty-five times that, and a single cluster is double what you get from a crystal. Also, we rarely, if ever, use them for reckless, wanton destruction. I've only ever used them for forging armor, weapons, and whatever else have you."

Tohsaka shrugs. "Well, it was just a simple over-charge experiment," she says. "I added a bit of my own magical energy into what was already there. I wasn't expecting anything, but this is…" Her mouth turns upward in an eager grin. "Pretty enticing."

"Well, I'm glad you're happy with it, but I can't just give you every single one I have." he says, frowning. "I can give you five more of those shards. I can't use them anymore because… reasons…" His frown deepens.

_Getting into aether corruption would take more time than it's worth, and it's irrelevant._

Tohsaka's eyes shine. "Five charged crystals, each capable of this?"

He nods. "Like I said, I can't use them anymore. At least, not here. When I get back, I'll…?"

_Wait… 'when' I get back?_

It hadn't occurred to him until that moment that this might not even be a possibility.


	13. Works of Blade and Body

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Revised: 02/15/2021**

Tohsaka makes sure the scorched earth left by the blast wave isn't about to ignite a firestorm. Then she, her Servant, and the small man make their way back inside. Once seated, Taiasu rummages through his pack and tosses onto the table five more small glowing crystals, each identical but for their differing colors. The girl sits at the table, staring at the five crystal shards.

None of them were crimson, and each time she touched one, she had to fight her instinct to recoil. The violet shard made her skin tingle. Amber felt dry. Sapphire felt cold, and she could feel some strange pressure from the emerald-colored shard. The lapis shard just made her skin feel wet. The amber-colored shard catches her eye.

_Wait… This is the same color as…_

Her eyes widen slightly. "So what was that other stone?"

Taiasu glances up at her. "Huh? Which one?"

"The one you held before you started glowing?"

Taiasu's eyes go half-wide. "Oh, that. That's not like these. That's a special crystal. It's…" He frowns and roughs the sides of his head for a second. "The shortened version is that it's a library of knowledge accumulated over several generations." He pulls out the stone in question and stares at it, smiling as one might at an old friend. "This stone houses many lifetimes' worth of knowledge about the ways of the Monks of Ala Mhigo," he says. "The longer we have it, the more we build our skills, the more books in that library become open to us."

Tohsaka's head tilts. "We? Then there's more?"

"There are," he says, nodding. "They're rare, but not unique. Without these, becoming a skilled monk would take years, and becoming a master would put me well past my prime to go adventuring. And mastering more martial disciplines wouldn't be possible."

Her eyes widen further. "More…? So there are more types of these stones?"

He nods again. "They're all pretty similar, but different in a few ways. Flat like the sort you'd skip across a lake, and small enough to hold in your hand. And each containing a treasure trove of knowledge."

He brings out an obsidian colored stone, in the rough shape of a throwing star, etched with three red lines curving into a circle around the center of the stone's face.

The next he brings out is rose gold and shaped like a heart with rough edges. Etched In its center is a sigil like a smoother version of its overall shape.

Another he sets on the table looks like a piece of granite, carved like a misshapen pentagonal prism. Etched in the center of the broadest face is a black figure with what appears to be flames lashing out from it.

The last stone is pale green. Its edges are the softest of the five, and it's shaped like a harp, similar to the harp etched into its center.

"There are more… I just sort of stumbled into these. Skill, persistence, or just dumb luck, but I have this many."

"So you've mastered five martial disciplines, then?" Archer asks.

He shakes his head. "Mastered might be… being a bit generous. More like, I'm confident in my skills," he says. "I cut my teeth with this one." He holds up the amber colored stone. "I started as a pugilist. You know. Kicking, punching, that sort of thing."

Archer scoffs. "Fighting without weapons sounds like suicide, if you ask me."

"You'd think so… but it works pretty well. And I'll tell you this." That silly grin again splits the small man's face. "There's little and less that's more satisfying for one who's knee high to an ant than walking up to a dragon and _socking it."_

Archer smirks. "I could see that…" Then the rest sinks in, and his brow arches upward. "Wait… did you say dragon?"

Taiasu only nods before continuing with his story. "After I learned all I could about pugilism and reached a plateau, I'd chanced upon someone in need of a… Well, they said he needed a research assistant," Taiasu says with a wry smirk. "The truth was, he needed someone to keep him alive. He talked a lot about aether and ancient battlegrounds, but…"

He glances to the floor, rubbing the back of his neck.

"I didn't listen that close. He was pretty high-minded and arrogant, and it made it difficult for me to care what he had to say. But I'd agreed to help him, and a man is only as good as his word, so there was no backing out for me."

He glances back up at Tohsaka and Archer. The former gives him her consideration, while the latter stands beside the grandfather clock, staring out the window. Taiasu shrugs and continues.

"The man had another research assistant. An Ala Mhigan monk named Widargelt. The researcher found him lacking," Taiasu says, frowning. "He dragged me to this old battlefield and had me dispatch some resident denizens as part of his experiment. Had most of them dealt with when the last one started casting a rather dangerous looking spell."

Tohsaka's head leans to one side. "Denizens?"

"Er… yeah. You know…" He rubs his head. "No, you wouldn't, sorry… Hydaelyn has a lot of… unfriendly fauna." His gaze drops and he smiles sadly. "You know, monsters. Most people don't go wandering around for that reason."

"Oh… But you do?"

Taiasu nods. "Me and every other adventurer!" he says with a big grin. "They're what we tend to fight most of the time. People, less so."

He continues. "So the last of those fiends was about to blast me. I wasn't sure what to do, but that's when Widargelt showed up, decked in the strangest looking yellow armor I'd seen. He landed this insane flying kick on it." Taiasu stands on the chair and kicks his leg out in imitation. "Took him out right there and then. Had seen nothing like it before then," he says, smiling. "After that, we both started glowing like the sun, and I felt something in me… open. Widargelt said it was my 'chakra' opening." He shakes his head.

"No idea what he meant. Said something about the leftover energy of an ancient battle flowing through me. Still don't fully understand the what of it. Just had to agree with him like a dope. But he was right in that something had awakened in me that day."

Tohsaka strokes her chin. "Well… I don't know how things work on your world, but it sounds analogous to what we call Leylines here," she says. "A place where magical energy just seems to accumulate. They built this house on one."

Taiasu's face goes blank. "I… can't even pretend to understand half of that."

Her eyes go half-wide. "They don't have mages in your world?"

He shakes his head. "No, they do… I just never got around to learning anything about the magic disciplines. I'd intended to… at some point. Anyroad, Widargelt told me he was a monk, and their way was to train their mind and body." He stands in his seat again. "'The fist is our weapon,' he said. 'The energy within us moves the fist. The chakra is the seat of that energy,'" he says, trying to emulate the voice and mannerisms.

Tohsaka raises her hand, and Taiasu stops mid-thought "Huh?"

"Sorry, what did you say? 'Anyroad'?" she asks, head tilted.

"Yeah, anyroad. You know, whichever road you take?" he says.

Tohsaka laughs for a second. "Sorry, I didn't mean… I've just never heard that expression before."

"Huh? What do you say here?"

She rubs her chin. "I'd imagine the closest expression we have would be 'anyway'. Sorry, didn't mean to interrupt."

Taiasu shrugs and continues his story. "Widargelt said that the chakra exist within all living things, but not all living things can open them without a great deal of training and discipline… and that I was an exception." He smiles dryly. "Something about my great inner strength forcing them open." The small man laughs. "Never heard anyone describe me like that before. Said he'd never seen it happen. Told me I was meant to walk the monk's path, then he gave me that crystal. First one I'd ever seen, let alone held, and I just blundered right into it. Called it a 'mark of his order', but for me it was a catapult off that plateau."

"Sounds like fate was kind to you," Tohsaka says with a gentle smile.

He shrugs, stares fondly at the stone for a few seconds more, then returns it to his pack.

"Maybe it was." He lifts the black stone with the red swirl in the center from the table.

"I learned how to be a rogue, and later a ninja. I owe that to Yugiri Mistwalker. That much and more," he says, cradling the stone in his hand. "Each one of these has a precious memory attached, and a long story to go with it."

"Hold on. Rogue? Like a highwayman?"

_He doesn't seem the sort. I can't imagine him… what, would he say? 'Give me your money or lose a toe!'?_

She chuckles at the thought, and he shakes his head, smiling.

"Not exactly. I mean, they use the same set of skills, but it's how you use those skills that matters. One of my friends, Thancred…" He smiles a faraway smile. "He used to run with that sort of crowd, and that's what got me interested… Let's just say I owe a lot of my interests to a lot of my friends."

She smiles and nods silently.

"I'd had my work with the rogues guild finished for some time when I got a call from their leader, Jacke. I was doing well to make out every other sentence he spoke. He big on thieves' cant, but even the—"

He claps his mouth.

_I can't tell them about the Echo yet… We'll be here all night._

Tohsaka nods. "Yes, big on thieves' cant, I'm familiar. Go on."

Taiasu nods. "He said his men had eyes on some newcomers at Wineport. What struck him odd was how they knew little and less about them, so he wanted me to do some digging." Taiasu's face turns up in a soft smile. "Figured I owed him for helping me learn my way around the sharp end of a knife, so I agreed."

"Sounds like he didn't want people muscling in on his turf," Archer says, smirking.

"Maybe. Jacke had said they claimed to be refugees, but something about them still rubbed him wrong," Taiasu says, his smile shifting into a knowing smirk. "Turns out he's got some keen intuition. Made my way to Wineport, and no sooner it was I'd met my contact than things got… bizarre. We heard a scuffle and ran across a waif of a woman standing over three unconscious thugs. Two of 'em must've weighed three times what she did."

Tohsaka laughs. "Not suspicious at all."

"Yeah, my first thought too," Taiasu says, laughing as well. "It was almost cliché. She laid it on thick. 'I had just come to town to purchase some supplies,' she said. 'I was suddenly accosted by three burly drunkards.'" His impression falls flat, and he coughs and clears his throat. "She said they were mugging her, but when they saw how little she had, they got into it with each other, and next she knew they were all splayed out on the ground like we'd seen when we first arrived," the small man says, still smirking. "Would have been plausible, but that the 'burly drunkards' in question were relatively unscathed. That didn't help sell her story. Rather than challenge her there, we let her be on her way, and followed her shortly thereafter."

Tohsaka leans her chin into her hands as she rests her elbows on the table, and her eyes shine. "So what happened next?"

"Well… we were following her and came across a trio of men in peasant garb. They weren't peasants. Just masquerading, by their weapons. No peasant carries around knives like those guys had. All three were down, and two were already…" He frowns and shakes his head. "The last was on his way out. Said he'd failed, passed me this stone…" he says, caressing the black stone in his hand. "Last thing he said was to take it to some folks named Oboro and Tsubame. Never even heard their names before, but… well, it was his dying request."

"Ever the philanthropist," Archer says dryly.

Taiasu's eyes narrow. "Hey, if you can help someone, you do it! I mean… that's how it should be, at least…"

Archer's dry smirk dissolves into a frown, and the small man tilts his head.

"What, something else to say?"

"No… Just remembering something. Never mind me." His sarcastic smirk returns. "Please, by all means, regale us."

Taiasu shrugs again. "We caught up with the woman, and another trio of downed 'peasants'. That's when things got… weird," he says. "This guy… with long black hair… He had his face painted black around his eyes and was wearing red chest armor with chain sleeves and black leggings. He just drops in from nowhere. Starts chiding this girl, claiming she was hiding from him. The way he was talking and moving, it was hard to take him seriously." His frown deepens. "Then things got dangerous. I'd stepped between them. This guy seemed to mean her harm, but she just rushed past me with these two blades out." He closes his eyes as he recalls the scene. "Guy had his out in a second, too. Then this shuriken flies out, striking the ground between 'em, and they both stop in their tracks."

"Sounds like your first contact with an actual ninja." Tohsaka says with a soft smile, leaning forward a bit more.

"No, that was Yugiri… I can talk about her later, I don't want to get off track." He frowns, rubbing his forehead. "Again, at least if I can help it. Seeing this guy in red was pretty jarring. Name was Karasu, but he didn't act a thing like I thought a ninja should act. He was big on theatrics. Yugiri is a more proper ninja than this guy could ever hope to be… Or maybe he was just big on breaking stereotypes." He shrugs. "So Oboro was the guy who threw this shuriken. That's what the weirdo, Karasu, called him. So it was clear the woman was this Tsubame," Taiasu says, holding the stone in his hand. "They were the two to whom we were asked to deliver this."

He shudders a moment before continuing. "Karasu called my mate and I 'extras', like it was all some stage play. Tried to off me. Before I could see it, he'd sent a shuriken flying at my head. Guess my body just reacted. Next I knew, I could feel the wind from it grazing my ear, and hear it burying itself into the stone face of a cliff behind me." He emulates his bodies movements at that time, leaning back and to the side steeply.

"Guess that rogue training came in handy then?" Tohsaka says, nodding.

"Probably. It was useful for a lot, but that just made me feel even more indebted to Jacke," he says, sighing again. "I'll never be able to repay every debt I owe. Karasu left right away with a flashy display and some smoke bombs to cover his exit. We got the rundown from the two. Said they came from a small village in the province of Doma. Called themselves shinobi. Talked about how they fought against…" Taiasu shakes his head. "No, that's just going to get confusing."

"Huh?" Tohsaka raises an eyebrow. "What's confusing?"

"Er… well, the politics. Wars and such," he says, waving his hands. "It's all connected, but it's too much to talk about right now. This was part of that. Tsubame said they could have won freedom for Doma, but that Karasu guy betrayed them. Oboro was lamenting his fallen kin, and I made to hand him this…" He gestures with the small black stone.

Tohsaka nods, but says nothing, letting him continue.

"That's when it started shining. Oboro said it was calling out to me. Called it a sign. Said we were 'fated to fight as one'." He chuckles softly. "A bit dramatic for my taste. Were it not for Yugiri and our fond friendship, I'd have just handed the stone to him and been done with it. But that's not what happened. I'd been in awe when I saw Yugiri fight, and I wanted to know more. Oboro said he'd train me as a ninja if I helped them learn the details of the country. They were new there, so they knew little and less. I agreed, and they started teaching me ninjutsu. That's how I came into possession of this stone, and how I got my start as a ninja."

Taiasu places the black stone in his pack and reaches for the next stone.

"This one—"

"Taruko-kun," Tohsaka interjects softly. "I'm sorry… I am. This is fascinating, and I'd love to hear more. I really would, but…"

She looks at one of her many clocks, and his eyes go full-wide.

"AH! I'm sorry! I got so into it I didn't even think!"

He lifts the remaining three stones and places them within his pack.

"Everything just builds up and… I've only ever been with people who already know it all, so I don't get to share it often." He frowns a second, but then grins brightly. "But I'm glad you liked them! I don't want people to forget… These things may be tools to some, but they're much more than that for me." He stands up from the chair and cuts his figure with a deep bow.

"Thanks for listening."

Tohsaka blinks a few times. "Not at… all. Like I said, it was fascinating."

"Yeah, but you could learn to trim the fat a bit." Archer says, smirking.

* * *

Tohsaka shows Taiasu to her room.

"You'll sleep here," she says, gesturing to a futon and bedding she'd rolled out.

"In here? This is pretty nice for a guest room," he says.

She shakes her head. "No… this is my room…"

"Your room? Then where will you sleep?"

She blinks a few times. "Here. In my bed…"

Taiasu can feel heat flooding his face. "W-wait… I can't sleep in your room if you're sleeping in your room."

Her brows arch upward. "Huh? Why?"

"That's…" He looks down, and his face turns even more red. "I can't… I'll go find someplace else, I'm sure there are lots." He goes to gather up the bedspread.

"What? No way. I will not be responsible for any inter-planetary diplomatic firestorm that would result from you wandering around my house, getting into… god only knows what." She stares at him sharply. "You're staying here where I can keep both eyes on you."

He shakes his head softly. "No… it's fine…" He glances up and her glare causes him to reconsider.

She frowns, looking at his feet. "And usually, when a guest enters a house, they remove their footwear."

"Ah… Um… sorry… I forgot…" he says, rubbing the back of his neck.

Leaning down, he removes his red leather boots, and then takes a glance around the room in which he is evidently going to be sleeping for the night.

It has an elegant bed. Large for one person, with four posters, and a canopy, with a white bedspread covering decorated with flowers, leaves, and various other floral designs. It matches the rest of the room well. Three windows, each with curtains that have the same style as the bedspread, a small table with two chairs, a mirror above a small cabinet on which rest two candles, and a closed jewelry box between them. All of it rests on a plush, red carpet.

He spends a few seconds taking it in with a soft smile.

_This suits her well, I think._

"I'm still not comfortable with this…" he mutters, scuffing his bare feet against the carpet.

Tohsaka's eyes narrow. "What's the problem?"

"The problem… if you don't know the problem…" Taiasu goes hard red. "It's that… I'm a… guy."

Tohsaka's eyes go quarter-wide and she tilts her head.

"Huh? You're a guy?"

The soft carpet muffles the sound of his head impacting the floor. He leaps high enough into the air to be at eye-level, his face as red as the carpeting.

 ** _"YES, I'M A GUY!"_** he yells, shaking the windows, and blowing Tohsaka's hair back slightly.

She covers her face, grinning as he descends back to the ground.

"Oh… you were making a joke…" he says, pouting. "That's mean… you're mean…"

Her grin falls to a normal sort of smile and she pushes her hair back. "It's fine. I don't have a guest room prepared. I like to consider myself on top of things, but I wasn't expecting one today, so that's not an option." She folds her arms. "Even if you do try anything, Archer will turn you into a pin-cushion, so there's no problem. I'm pretty sure even I could throw you through one of these windows regardless of how… strong… you are?" Her eyes widen and her head leans slightly to the right. "Hey how come you're so strong?"

Taiasu stares at the carpet. "I'm not _that_ strong… At least, no stronger than your average Hydaelian adventurer."

Tohsaka tilts her head left. "All of them are as strong as you?"

He shakes his head. "No, I'm average. I'm stronger than a few, but weaker than most."

"Wow… So your world has a bunch of people that could match a Servant in battle?"

"What's a Servant? I mean, in this context?" Taiasu says, his leaning to one side. "I've heard the word used a bunch, but I haven't gotten a proper explanation yet."

"Er… uh…" Tohsaka stumbles for words before her head slumps forward as she sighs. "Archer is a Servant," she says gesturing toward him as he stands silently in the corner. "All the details would take far too long to explain, but for the sake of this discussion, they're… well, super strong, skilled, super durable—"

Taiasu's brow arches into his hairline. "Fiends! They're like monsters on Hydaelyn, then!"

A deep frown cuts into Archer's face.

Tohsaka nods. "I mean… if that helps you understand it, then sure, let's go with that. So back to what I was saying, are there many people in your world strong enough to fight with Archer?"

"So there are monsters in this world after all… Ah, sorry." He shakes his head to get back on track. "Strong enough to fight Archer? Maybe… I haven't met them all. Also, I don't know, but I don't think he tried that hard…"

"You try cleaving a kewpie doll bouncing around on a pogo-stick…" he says in his well-practiced disdainful tone.

* * *

Tohsaka ushers Archer and Taiasu out so she can change into her sleep wear.

A few minutes of awkward silence pass before Archer casts a sidelong glance.

"So what are the other three?" he asks.

"Huh? Three what?" Taiasu asks, looking up at him.

"Those other three stones. What are they?"

"Huh? You wanted to hear about—" Taiasu's smile spreads again, but Tohsaka opens the door to her room, ending their discussion.

"Later, or we'll never get to bed," she says as she brushes out her hair.

On bringing them back inside, her bright yellow attire draws in Taiasu's gaze.

"Cats…?"

He tilts his head, less interested by her sleepwear than the patterns playing across it. A simple, long-sleeved top and bottom, decorated with a bunch of cat faces.

She huffs, crossing her arms. "Yeah, so I like cute things, and cats are cute. All girls like cute things, so what's the problem?"

"Tohsaka… You're a girl?" Taiasu says, tilting his head.

Her face goes full tilt as she lifts him by his head, winding up to throw him through a window.

He flails while laughing. "Ah, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'll stop!"

* * *

Tohsaka pulls back her bedspread and climbs in, pulling it over herself. Taiasu climbs into the futon prepared for him, electing to sleep over the covers.

"Alright… Archer, keep an eye on him. If he does anything untoward… Well, don't kill him," she says toward where Archer stands invisible. "Just… you know, kindly dissuade him." No voice responds, but she seems content with that.

"As for you…" she says, staring at Taiasu now. "Tomorrow, we need to figure out what we're going to do with… or about… you. We can't have visitors from other worlds running around, it'll cause an incident."

He stares at the floor. "I only came because I wanted an adventure. I didn't want to cause problems for people…"

"Well, for now, do like your 'old man' said and try to keep a low profile… we'll…" She yawns heavily. "We'll leave tomorrow's problems for tomorrow."

The small man sighs, laying himself down on the futon she had prepared for him.

Her words soak in.

_Old man… I forgot…_

"Tohsaka…" he says, softly.

"Hm…?" she says, sleepily.

"I forgot to tell you the third thing…"

"Just… tell me tomorrow…" she says, closing her eyes.

"What if I forget again…?" he asks, but she's already fallen asleep.

The Day Ends


	14. Not a Neko-chan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Revised: 02/15/2021**

Another dream. Another face. It flashes through Taiasu's mind repeatedly, obscured each time. Something is always in the way. Even when this proves false, it always appears just out of focus. But the feelings evoked by the imagery are clear as crystal.

Different from the last. Not the face of a woman, but that of a man.

Perfectly ordinary. Not short, but not exactly tall either. Short brown hair. He gives off an air of shyness, discomfort, awkwardness and uncertainty, but also kindness and sincerity.

Your perfectly ordinary, average, good-guy, ever-man. Yet, his expression is one of boundless, unrestrained joy. Something wonderful has completed this man in a way he never knew he wanted, let alone needed.

Something pure. Something perfect.

Something impossible.

Despite having met no one like this, let alone having even seen anyone like this, there is something familiar about the man…

* * *

Taiasu awakens from the dream to an uncomfortable situation.

_Weird dream… wait… Uh oh…_

He sits up and looks around.

"Ah… Tohsaka?" he whispers.

She gives no response.

"Tohsaka? I need to use the bathroom!"

She remains silent.

"Tohsakaaaa!"

"You're wasting your breath, kid. She's dead to the world until she wakes up, and that won't be for hours." Archer's voice comes out from the corner of the room.

He frowns. "I'm not a kid. Wait, did you say hours? I can't wait that long!" Taiasu's uncomfortable squirming does little to help his case of not being a kid.

The voice from the corner sighs. "Fine. I'll show you. Oh, grab your boots. We may as well drop them by the door."

* * *

_I guess. It looks similar enough, but still…_

"Archer…?" Taiasu says, staring at the toilet.

"What, you're going to tell me you've never seen a toilet?" Archer looks down, and Taiasu shakes his head.

"Sorry. This is all still really new. This is where I, um… you know, right?"

Archer sighs again. "Yes, that is where. Do you need me to take your pants off for you? Help you up, maybe?"

Taiasu's brow furrows and he frowns sharply. "NO! I just didn't want to do… 'business' in the wrong place, you jerk!" He huffs, stripping off his gloves. "Now get the hells out of here!"

In a rare moment of foresight, he looks at his hands, then the sink above his head, which he shakes a few times.

_Like hells, I'm going to have him lift me up there…_

He looks at a significantly larger wash basin at floor level.

_That could work. I think the water comes from here…_

He stares at the faucet for a few seconds, pondering.

_But how does it come out…?_

He lifts the shower-plug. Nothing. Then he reaches out and turns one of the two knobs, and the sound of water running echoes through the bathroom as it pours from the faucet, causing him to smile with satisfaction.

"Ah, I see…"

"What, they don't have running water in your world?" Archer asks in a curious tone.

"What?! Hey!" He spins toward the door. "I told you… to… running water?" His furrowed brow relaxes. "That's what this is? Er, no. I mean, some places might, but if they did, it would be in Garlemald and we're not exactly on… friendly terms," he says, turning back and staring at the pouring water. "But we have things like open-air baths and wells for getting water, so this is… well, it's all really new to me."

He puts his hand in and finds the water to be frigid. Then his eyes fall to the second knob, as yet untouched.

"Hot water?"

He turns the other knob, and the water coming from the tap steams after a few moments. Archer stands behind him, invisible and bemused as he watches this journey of discovery into the conveniences of modern indoor plumbing.

Taiasu again ushers Archer out, he hopes, and concludes his 'business', a fluid transaction. He then turns his attention back to the larger basin in front of him.

Turning the knobs, and after a few seconds of fussing with them to get the temperature right, he runs some water over his ungloved hands. He then examines the veritable apothecaries worth of bottles of shampoos, conditioners, body-washes, and who knows what else which lines the edge of the large tub. He stares for a few moments, scratching his head. Then he shrugs and grabs one of the more flowery-looking bottles. He removes the cap and empties a bit onto his hands, then replaces the cap and returns it to where it had been.

"So you know what soap is?"

_"GAH!"_

Archer's voice comes from behind him, causing him to jump. He closes his hand to prevent losing the liquid as he spins around.

"I told you to get the hells out!" he yells at the door, still closed, and can hear Archer snickering in response.

"I had my back turned the entire time. There was probably nothing to see, anyway," he says. Taiasu can hear the smirk in his voice. "I couldn't risk you trying to do… god only knows what. I feel if I left you alone for a second, you might figure out a way to burn the house down with just water somehow."

Taiasu frowns as he turns and brings his hands toward the still-running water.

"Nothing to see. I'll have you know…?" He stops his retort as the smell of the chemical in his hands reaches his nose. Somehow familiar, it catches his interest and acts as a convenient distraction. After working his hands into a thorough lather, the scent becomes stronger.

_That smells good. What is that? Rolanberry?_

He brings some suds to his mouth and then spits them out.

 _Bleh!_ Not _rolanberry!_

Taiasu spits a few more times.

"You eat soap in your world?" Archer says, laughing.

"Gh, no! It's just… we only have one sort of soap, and it doesn't smell… well, edible. It just smells like… soap," he says. He takes a few seconds to enjoy the pleasant-smelling fragrance.

Archer's sigh reverberates through the bathroom. "Right. The wonders of modern living."

Taiasu rinses his mouth, relieving it of the remaining taste, and after shutting off the faucet and drying his hands on a convenient towel, he steps out of the bathroom. Behind him, he can hear running water, and he turns to look.

"We usually flush the toilet when we're finished with it," Archer says.

"Wow…" Taiasu stares at the toilet for a second. "Sorry. I thought it was… well, a lot of the places we do… you know, 'that', it just gets carried right out. I thought this was one of them, or that Tohsaka had a maid or a servant to empty it in the morning."

Archer sighs again. "Well, for future reference, just press this," he says. The handle moves up and down as he pokes it with his invisible hand.

"Thanks…" Taiasu says. Then his head tilts. "Wait. You can mess with stuff while you're invisible?"

"Of course. Ah, sorry, I forgot you wouldn't know that." In a rare moment of contrite politeness, Archer shows a shred of humility and sincerity.

What energy Taiasu has gained from a flurry of new experiences is fleeting, and he can feel himself losing the battle against the encroaching slumber. He yawns heavily as he makes his way toward the room of his benefactor, opening the door and stumbling inside.

He yawns again and rubs his eyes as his feet leave the floor.

"Come on. Up we go." Archer says kindly.

_Up…?_

As the soft surface seizes him in its loving embrace, his eyes slip closed and slumber soon follows. All the red flags, alarm bells and whistles in his head were no match for the unstoppable onslaught of the beast called sleep.

* * *

_Hmm… something smells… good…_

Taiasu's nose twitches a bit and his eyes drift open.

_Not food… What is… Yellow?_

His eyes open to a field of yellow obscuring his vision, along with a hint of a distinct pattern and with a trace of soft, skin-colored… skin.

_What…?_

Taiasu shuts his eyes and then opens them to find the same scene laid out before him.

_No… I was… wait…_

The pieces fall into place, and he can practically feel Archer's evil grin from his station in the corner. His mind recalls what it was he'd last heard before falling asleep again after discovering the modern marvel that is indoor plumbing.

Up _… He wouldn't have…_

Archer would have.

_He couldn't have…_

The tall man could have.

_He didn't…_

The shyster most certainly did.

His small hearts starts pounding in his chest.

_Okay… okay… Calm down, stupid… Just breathe…_

He inhales deeply again, but the scent carries to his brain, and truncates that.

_Okay, don't breathe… I mean, just breathe through your mouth, dummy…!_

He lets out a slow breath as he comes to terms with his current predicament.

_Nothing bad… yet… I just need to…_

He attempts to slide down toward the foot of the bed, but something arrests this subtle motion, which then arrests him further by pulling him into the sea of yellow.

_Uh… wait…_

He can feel two soft 'some things' pressing into his head.

_That's kind of… nice—NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, STUPID!_

Despite his attempts to subdue his baser instincts, he can still feel his head heating like a furnace, and the redness growing in his face tints his periphery. He attempts to wriggle down again, but any such attempts only result in a tighter squeeze.

"Hmmm… Neko… chan…" Tohsaka mutters something in her sleep, pressing her head into his as her eyes drift open.

A thousand thoughts a second fly through Taiasu's brain. It's the same thoughts, strung together and stuck in a loop.

_This is bad. I'm bad. Actually, this is a little nice… NO, STUPID! I'm dead. She's gonna kill me. Archer's gonna laugh while she does it. I hope the coffins are comfy._

Tohsaka's eyes slip closed, and he exhales a relieved breath.

"Hmm…" Tohsaka sighs.

Just when Taiasu feels like she might not murder him horribly, her eyes snap open like over-tight rubber bands and she flies from her side of the bed, her left arm ablaze with light and an incantation just a breath away from her lips.

Now free, Taiasu lunges from the other side of the bed, pressing his back into the wall.

"I'm sorry… I'm sorry… I'm sorry…" His diminutive mouth repeats this as a mantra that might save his life.

"What… did… you… do…" she says through clenched teeth.

"I'm sorry… I didn't… It wasn't… I'm sorry…" he repeats his plaintive apology.

"If you didn't do anything, then why… are… you…?"

Archer's low, snickering builds into a raucous laughter.

After considering some contextual clues and getting a reasonable idea of why the first thing she saw was Taiasu's fire-engine red face when her eyes opened, Tohsaka's wrath relents to a degree.

At least, toward the small man, who remains pinned to the wall, still quite upset, less fearful for his own safety, on having seen Tohsaka relax some. His concern is more about what had happened before. No, not about the prank, but his general reaction to it. His heart hammers against his chest as he comes to grips with this new experience.

"Taruko-kun…?" Tohsaka, having calmed down and lowered her arm, which was no longer glowing, regards him with some curiosity and a small amount of concern.

"I'm… sorry…" he repeats himself.

"Why…? It was just a stupid joke by—"

"No. Not… that…" he says, looking down. "I thought… things… Felt… things… It was… nice… I shouldn't have…"

His thoughts and feelings are a storm of confusion, elation, frustration, annoyance, fear, doubt, dread, and several others for which he'd have to create extra words.

"What do you mean?" Tohsaka asks, genuinely curious.

"Because… when I smelled something… nice and… liked it… Then… I saw it was you…" he says, staring at the ground, hard. "Then I felt something… when you… when you… And it was soft and I thought it was… nice and… I shouldn't have thought that…"

A big grin splits Tohsaka's face.

_Jeez, is this guy real…?_

"Are you actually a child…?" she asks, biting back a giggle.

"No… I'm an… I'm an adult… I'm an adult…" he says, not helping his case by his reaction. "But that… but that… that… that's not something… you're supposed to do with… with… strangers… You're supposed to… do that… with someone… you… someone you… l… l… l-l-love…"

His voice comes out in a choked whimper, and Tohsaka, unable to hold back, bursts out laughing.

"T… Taiasu… oh my… oh my GOD…!" she says, between gasps and laughter. "I don't think… I don't think…"

She collapses on the floor, laughing.

_This guy can't be for real…!_

She rolls on her back and takes in a deep breath before breaking out into another unrestrained fit of laughter.

* * *

Having calmed down and recovered her breath, Tohsaka sits on her bed, while Taiasu remains seated on the floor.

"Have you ever even been with a woman?" she asks, wiping the laugh-tracks from her eyes.

Her smile fades at the vigor with which he shakes his head.

"Wait… really?"

He nods his head with equal vigor. "That's… you have to love someone for that…" he says "I've never loved anyone… I mean, I liked a few women but… things were always getting in the way… It could never go anywhere." He stares at the floor. "So I'm still waiting for that…"

She grins again. "Wait, are you actually a prude?"

He shakes his head again, almost violently. "No! I'm interested in… you know… But not with just anyone! It has to be with someone I l… love… And they have to feel the same way!" His face almost bleeds red. "So all of this was just… you know, a lot."

Tohsaka's grin morphs into a warm smile. "I think I understand. That's why you didn't want to sleep here last night, right?"

He nods. "Yeah… It just didn't feel right." He heaves a deep sigh. "Don't get me wrong, you're… I mean, I couldn't have… Damn it, what the hells am I even saying!" The small man shakes his furiously blushing head, and Tohsaka laughs again.

"It's okay, I get it. Nothing bad happened, so just forget it, alright?" she says, smiling. "So… you really thought I smelled nice?"

"Gh…" Taiasu frowns, but nods, turning red all over again.

"Hm… maybe the new body wash…?" she says, glancing at the floor.

"Huh? That stuff that smelled like rolanberry but tasted like… not rolanberry?" Taiasu tilts his head. "No, you didn't… smell like… that… It was just… nice…"

His voice drops away as he comments his genuine thoughts.

"Oh… Wait." Her head leans to one side. "What's a rolanberry?"

"Ah, it's a kind of fruit. They're small, red, and sweet, but also tart," he says, remembering the flavor of something he hasn't had in some time, and likely wouldn't have again for a while longer.

"Huh…? Sounds like strawberries… I wonder if they just call things by different names in your world… Hold on." She looks up again, her eyebrows drawing inward. "How do you know what my body-wash smells like?"

They can again hear Archer laughing from the corner as Taiasu explains his early morning adventure in discovering indoor plumbing and that things which smell nice do not always taste nice.

* * *

Taiasu waits outside the bedroom door as Tohsaka changes from her sleepwear into her school clothes. He looks to the door, then to the floor, scuffing his feet.

_Shouldn't be wandering around. She gets scary when she's mad…_

She opens the door, and looks down at him, and his still somewhat downcast expression, and another fit of laughter escapes her.

He frowns. "Please stop laughing at me…"

This only causes her laughter to escalate.

"I'm sorry… I'm sorry…!" she says between gasps. "But I never… I never imagined someone would react… like that! To something so trivial!" She shakes with laughter for a few more seconds before recovering. "Come on. I'll make you breakfast as an apology."

"Hey… I just realized something…" he says, following behind her.

"Hm? What's that?" she says as she walks toward the living area.

"You were calling me by my first name in there."

She stops mid-step and her brow furrows.

"We're not lovers," she says, and he laughs.

It was the first time he'd laughed since arriving here. He'd smirked, smiled, and grinned like an idiot and a fool quite a few times, but this was his first laugh.

"Duh. I know that. Was just wondering why, is all. I mean, I'm okay with it, but I was curious…"

She shrugs. "I don't know… it just came out."

"Ah… well, I don't mind it. If you want to call me that, or the other thing. Either is fine."

* * *

Tohsaka comes into the dining area with a couple plates of steaming eggs, sunny-side up, toast, a couple slices of bacon, and a glass of orange juice, all balanced on the single tray she's holding.

"That looks awesome," Taiasu says, grinning. Then he sees the plate she places in front of him and frowns. Though artistically done, it is plain to see that with the eggs, bacon, and a bit of ketchup for flare, she has created a smiley face.

"Something wrong with your breakfast?" she asks, grinning as well.

He looks up from his plate to hers, and his frown deepens, seeing her expression and her plate which has not been so whimsically adorned. After a bit of a struggle, he straightens his frown and stares directly forward..

"Not a thing."

He cuts up the eggs, sliding them on the toast, which he brings to his mouth. The eggs set well with the buttered toast, and the smell from the bacon only serves to enhance the entire experience. It's only lightly seasoned with salt and pepper, which is exactly enough to make it a perfect breakfast, and his mouth forms into a satisfied smile.

_How long was it since I last ate breakfast…? I don't remember the last time it was this good._

"Ah… thanks for breakfast," he says, after having swallowed the toast and egg. "It's delicious."

"You're welcome." Tohsaka says, then taking another bite of her food.

* * *

Breakfast concludes, and Tohsaka returns from the kitchen after carrying the used plates, glasses and silverware to the kitchen.

"Hey, can I ask you something?" she says.

Taiasu smirks. "You just did," he says as he prepares what will be his fourth infusion using six crystal clusters.

She frowns. "Fine… Can I ask you 'two things'. Do you usually respond to… things like that, in that way?"

"Things like what?" he asks as he splits the clusters into equal groups.

"You know… Unexpected things? Things that others think are trivial?"

Taiasu shrugs. "Don't know. Sometimes I've had reactions to things people think are normal, but other times people have reacted weirdly to things I think are normal. I never really thought about it…" His voice trails as he considers her question.

"I was just wondering… if there was something off in your head, is all," she says.

He frowns softly. "Hey, that's kind of rude… but… well, I mean, who doesn't have a screw or two loose?" he says, his frown turning up in a smirk, and she laughs softly.

He places a hand on each cluster group, and Tohsaka watches as the light in each dims and then vanishes.

* * *

Archer sighs. "So you're going to school?"

"I am. Is there a problem, Archer?" Tohsaka says.

"No… it's just that…"

His gaze falls to Taiasu, who has just finished collecting and stowing the six spent clusters from the table.

"What about him?"

The small man grins. "I can come too. I've been there for two days already. It's boring, but… well, it's still better than staying here and trying to entertain myself. I wouldn't want to get into trouble or end up burn—"

"Stop talking," Tohsaka says, cutting him off. "It's fine. You can come… Wait, what if someone detects you like we did?"

"Well… Nobody has yet—" He frowns. "No, that's wrong. Emiya can see me too… I can avoid that by staying out of his field of view, though."

Tohsaka nods. "Okay, then it's fine, but you'll need to—"

Before she's finished speaking, he's produced the obsidian colored stone. His form emits a bright glow and when it fades, gone are his flashy red armor, gloves, pants, boots, cape and mantle. In their place are the two kodachi and his black ninja 'cosplay'. He pats the stone with affection before returning it to his pack.

"So, what's the other problem?" Tohsaka says, looking back at Archer.[WV1]

Archer sighs, roughing the back of his head. "I'm just concerned. You're vulnerable in school to attacks by other Masters."

"No more so than I am anyplace else." Tohsaka says, folding her arms and staring at him. "We battle in private, so the chances of that happening in school are acceptably low." She holds up her finger. "I may be a Master, but I won't be changing my routines or my lifestyle, Archer."

"Yeah, and besides, if I'm close by her, I can protect her. I mean, I kind of owe her for the business with…" Taiasu's face goes hard-red for a moment before he shakes his head. "And also for breakfast… And besides, even if I didn't owe her anything, I'd still…"

His voice breaks off, and Tohsaka glances down at him, leaning her head slightly.

_Huh…? He'd still look after me like that? What a weird little guy…_

She chuckles softly.

Archer scoffs. "Sure, you could just talk any serious threat to death."

Taiasu's small eyes narrow and he frowns sharply.

Tohsaka soft smile transforms into a hard smirk, and her eye gives a subtle twitch. "No fighting in the house, boys."

Taiasu sighs and nods while Archer says nothing in reply, folding his arms and staring at the floor.

"That aside, if this is your decision, all I can do is obey. But I can at least stay by your side in spirit form, yes? Unless you intend to make me stay here while you go to school?"

Tohsaka's eyes go half-wide and her mouth slacks for a moment. "Don't be ridiculous. Not just at school, but anytime I'm outside, you need to stay at my side. That's your job, right?"

He smiles softly, letting his arms fall tom his sides. "I'm relieved to hear that. The charge of knights is to answer the trust others place on us. I shall do my best to meet your expectations." His soft smile drops slightly "However, what would you do if you found an enemy in that supposedly 'safe place', Rin?"

"Why do you ask that?" she asks, holding her chin. "Do you think there's a Master at the school?"

"Likely so," he says, arms folded and nodding. "Though it's difficult for any non-student, or non-teacher, to get into the school, it's a problem if someone who belongs there naturally is a master, right?"

Tohsaka's head leans to one side as she wears a dismissive smile.

"I think you're worrying over nothing. There's only one other magus family besides mine, and they declined to take part in this go-around."

Archer closes his eyes and sighs, rubbing the side of his head. "How can you know there isn't a Master in that family?"

"Investigation, my dear Archer," she says, holding her finger out and smirking. "It's only natural that I would have checked up on them. The person there's not a Master, and his successor isn't capable, so we can disregard them."

"So you're saying there is a magus, but they don't have the magical energy, yes?"

Tohsaka nods.

"That's a dangerous assumption, isn't it?" Taiasu says, having been quiet and content to listen until now.

Tohsaka looks at him. "Huh? Why so?"

He folds his arms across his chest, staring at the floor. "Just because they don't have the power, I mean… I don't know much about magic in this world, or even in mine, but if there's knowledge tied to it, and this guy's from a family of magi, wouldn't that mean they'd have like… books or stuff?"

Tohsaka's eyes narrow slightly as she stares downward, holding her chin. "Well… I mean, that's… possible? But… that seems unlikely… I mean…"

"Sure, I mean, knowledge is the key that unlocks many doors," Taiasu says. "As long as the knowledge is there, there's a way to apply it, right?"

She frowns, biting her lip. "You know… I can't get a solid read on you, short stack. You ramble a lot, and not much of what you say makes sense, but then you say something like this…"

"I just said what I thought," he says, shrugging. "Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt."

"It's fine…" Tohsaka sighs as she rubs her forehead. "We'll worry about that if we have to… Anyway, that aside, the other masters will probably be coming from outside the school."

"Besides that, what if there is a magus at the school and you're just not aware, Rin?" Archer asks.

Tohsaka only shakes her head. "There aren't any. Magi are sensitive to each other, so if there were another there, I'd know it, regardless of how well they hid. I can say with confidence that there are only two; myself, and an apprentice who lacks the power to be any real threat."

"Fine. It was just a hypothetical." He sighs and puts on his best wry smile. "Only trying to look at it from other angles. 'Expect the unexpected', as they say, so don't say I didn't warn you."

She frowns and glares at him. "It won't happen. That's just what a hypothetical is. If it does happen, then it means I screwed up and my digging wasn't deep enough."

"Then we should leave now if we want to make it on time, yes?"

Taiasu nods silently while concealing his presence. He looks up at Tohsaka. "Can you sense me?" he asks.

She starts to shake her head, but then stops. "Y-yeah… I can now. How's that?"

He grins. "Because I'm letting you. Archer can whether I am or not, and so can Emiya apparently, but so can anyone else as long as I let them."

Her head leans to one side. "H-how… How does that even work?"

Taiasu shrugs. "No idea."

* * *

As they head for school, the conversation is light, if present at all.

As he attempts to remain near Tohsaka, a pothole forces Taiasu to take an odd step to avoid it. The pouch at his waist shifts, jostling the stones within just enough for the sound to reach his ears and remind him of the third thing.

"Ah…! Tohsaka!"

He speaks louder than he had intended. With no one around, his voice reaches only her and the formless Archer.

"Shhhh!" she hisses. "Are you trying to get caught by everyone?"

"Eh? No…" he says, lowering his voice. "I just remembered."

"What did you remember?"

"The third thing. The thing I was going to tell you about last night," he says as he fusses with the pouch at his side.

"Okay, well, what is it? We don't have a lot of time before we get to school, so be quick about it if it's so important."

"Okay, the old guy. The third thing I forgot was actually the first thing he said when he… gave… me… these," Taiasu says, getting the pouch opened. He peers in, examining the contents and sifting through as he locates the three distinct stones.

_Right, there's the ruby, the lapis, the steel… Wait, lapis? Hold on, here's the amethyst too… What is this?_

A stone has changed hue to that of lapis. As he examines the color, his face gets warm again.

_This one looks like… Caster's eyes. I'd forgotten about yesterday's resonance…_

"So what did he give you?"

Seeing no one else around, Taiasu drops his concealment, and makes to show the colored rocks to Tohsaka.

"These…"

"H-hey, stupid!" Tohsaka smacks him across the head. "Are you ACTUALLY trying to attract attention!"

"No one is around, and I need to—ah!"

Taiasu yelps as she drags him across the road and behind a tree.

"Okay, talk quick. I won't let myself be late," she says, frowning.

He frowns and rubs his head. "Fine, sorry. The first thing the guy said was probably the strangest. He said I'd be 'meeting some very special people,' and that these would serve a very special purpose for them," he says, holding up the four stones that had become distinct. "The rest look… well, not like this. I have a good idea when they changed, but it would take too long to explain."

He frowns briefly, staring at the ground.

_We don't have time to get into the Echo right now…_

He gazes between each stone and Tohsaka's eyes to the point she shifts uncomfortably.

"Eh… sorry," he mutters, looking away. "No, they're not like your eyes… Anyway, I don't know what it means, but—"

Tohsaka glances among the four stones and her brow arches upward.

_Wait… This one…? That's strange._

"Archer. Come out and stand here for a second," she says.

Archer materializes, his eyebrow raised.

"Yes, Rin?"

She seizes the steel colored stone from Taiasu.

"Hold still," she says, holding it close to Archer's face, next to his left eye. "Yeah… that's what I thought when I first saw it." She lowers the stone and nods with a soft, thoughtful frown. "Ah, Archer, you can go back to spirit form now. I just had to be sure."

Archer sighs, shrugging as his form fades and then vanishes.

"Be sure of what?" Taiasu asks, holding his hand out for the stone. Tohsaka continues staring at it.

"When I saw it, I thought of Archer's eyes. But never mind that. When did you say this happened? That these stones became colored?"

He sighs and withdraws his hand for the moment.

"The red one I think changed after I met this girl my first day here. It looks like her eyes," he says, shuddering. "When I met her, she tried to kill me."

"Tried to… kill you?" Tohsaka looks from the stone back at him, and he nods.

"Yeah… I was hoping we could become friends, because she seemed interesting like you, and then she called out this hulking behemoth she called—"

"Berserker…" Tohsaka finishes his sentence with a whisper.

"Yeah, she called it that. How'd you know?"

"It's the only Servant you could use the words 'hulking behemoth' to describe…" she says, trembling and going pale. "Wait. You said she _tried_ to kill you?"

He nods. "Yeah… I mean, he swung his big, weird, rock-stone-axe-sword thing at me a lot, but it was like he was moving slow or something, at least to how he was in the woods," he says, shrugging. "Then she stopped him, and we talked a bit. I think I made her mad because I like to talk a lot, but thanks to that I discovered that I'm not on Hydaelyn anymore. Then when I was walking away, she told me her name. I thought she'd sneeze—mph, mmm, mmmph, mmm?"

Tohsaka closes her hand over his mouth. "I don't need a blow-by-blow of that night, alright? Just tell me what she said her name was."

"Mllymphsl Mphn Mnsmn."

She frowns, removes her hand and wipes it on the grass nearby.

"Again, please?" she says, her eye twitching.

"Illyasviel von Einzbern," he says, frowning, looking down and away, and folding his arms. "You could have just asked me that from the beginning."

Tohsaka stopped listening after he'd said the name. Her color pales further.

"The… Einzbern family… summoned Berserker…?" she says. "That's… catastrophic."

"Huh? I don't understand. After she called him back, I thought we got along well. I don't know if we're friends, but she stopped trying to kill me at least, and she let me go. She didn't send—"

"Please. Stop. Talking," Tohsaka says, rubbing her forehead.

"Ah… Sorry. Oh. I forgot one other thing. I don't know—"

"WHAT!? What other thing did you forget!?"

"Ah… the old guy… he said he wasn't from my world, and he said those aren't either…" Taiasu says, shrinking back. "He called them 'Soulanchor Stones'…"

"Soulanchor Stones…" Tohsaka stares at the stone in her hand. "Why did you think to bring this up now?"

"Well, because I was walking and almost tripped, and then the—"

_"THE SHORT VERSION, TAIASU!"_

"Oh… well, he said 'special people', and I thought maybe you might be one of those special people… Especially since I think that stone didn't change until I met you."

"No…" Tohsaka says, staring at the stone again. "I think it didn't change until you met Archer."

"No, that's not true. It changed after I…"

He sighs, staring at the ground.

_Gods damn everything…_

"It changed after I saw into your soul."

Tohsaka's mouth goes slack as her arms fall at her sides.

"Saw… into my soul." She holds up a trembling, tightly clenched fist. "If you're practicing a pickup line…"

Taiasu shakes his head. "I don't know what that is. But this is a thing that happens sometimes. We don't have time, right? I'll explain it later, but I saw you with this older guy. You were young and had red hair ties. He was saying something about an association and about you putting them in your debt."

Her entire form tenses up.

_What…? He… How?_

"The entire time he was rubbing your—"

"Stop…" she says, her voice wavering.

Taiasu glances up at her and sees her hand lower as her eyes mist over. "I'm sorry. Are you alright? Did I say something bad?"

"No… I believe you. Just please don't talk about that right now." She wipes her eyes and firms her countenance. "We'll talk more about this later. It's just not a good time for it right now." Tohsaka sighs and slips the stone into one of her coat pockets.

Taiasu opens his mouth, but thinks better of it, then nods and returns the other three to the pouch at his waist, cinching it closed afterward.


	15. Don't Hurt My Friends

Rin Tohsaka crosses the threshold of the school, with Taiasu Taruko and the invisible Archer close behind.

"I guess I was wrong…" she says. "Seems that some hypotheticals do happen."

"Sometimes arguing over every little thing pays off."

They can hear the smirk in Archer's voice.

Taiasu's head tilts. "What are you guys talking about?"

"The air in here," she says. "It feels like there's a boundary field set up, right?"

"What's a boundary f—"

"Later, Taiasu."

He frowns and his eyes narrow.

_Humph… Well, I don't know what it is, but I know what it feels like… It feels like that park… It feels like another time-locked space…_

"Incomplete, but yes. They're definitely getting one ready," Archer says in his practiced, even tone. "Pretty cocky, doing it out in the open like this."

"That or someone who doesn't know better. This is third rate work if we can notice it this easily," Tohsaka says, shrugging. "Otherwise, we'd only know about it after it's activated."

"Which one do you think it is, Rin?"

She frowns and her eyes narrow. "Doesn't matter. I'm going to pound them into paste for being so brazen in my territory."

The three make their way through the school grounds and into the main school building. Taiasu catches a brief sight of Emiya, and the old man's words echo in his head again, but he dismisses them with a casual smirk and lets Emiya be about his day as he stays near Tohsaka.

_This is way more fun, old man…_

* * *

After the second period has ended, the three make their way out of the classroom. Tohsaka stops when she notices someone with unsteady steps carrying two stacks of papers, obscuring their face.

"Let me help, Sakura."

Taiasu glances from the concealed girl to Tohsaka and back again.

_The shy girl with the purple hair?_

"Tohsaka… Senpai…?"

"World history…" Tohsaka frowns as she gets a look at one paper. "That's my homeroom teacher. What's Kuzuki thinking, making a girl deal with all this by herself? Here, let me take half," she says, taking one stack.

Taiasu's head tilts to the side again.

_Kuzuki… who's that…?_

He files the name under faces not found.

"Ah.. yes. Thank you, Senpai."

Tohsaka smiles at her. "Don't worry about it. We're taking these to your classroom, right?"

She returns the smile with a soft one of her own. "… No, we're taking them to Kuzuki-sensei. He said he's recalling them because there was a misspelling."

"I see. He's stubborn like that. The only teacher in the entire school who'd cancel an entire test because of a single misspelled word," Tohsaka says, sighing.

The girl's head tilts. "Huh? You mean the school's exam?"

"That was the one. Last year's midterm. He came in before anyone had even started and said there was a misspelling, and it had to be cancelled and retaken at a later date. Surprised everyone. Even the teachers still talk about it today."

"That's just like Kuzuki-sensei," the girl says with a soft smile. "He doesn't think teachers should make any mistakes."

Tohsaka sighs as she rests her hands on her sides. "Still, he goes too far. You'll realize soon enough, he's stubborn as a bull or a mule."

The girl giggles. "Tohsaka-senpai, you must like Kuzuki-sensei. It's rare for you to talk about someone like that."

Her eyes widen and her mouth dips slightly. "Do you think so? I think he should be less inflexible though… Anyway, once you reach second year, you'll get to see him more, since he teaches ethics too. Besides that, is it okay for me to ask you something, Sakura?"

Taiasu grins unseen.

_You mean, 'two things'?_

"Huh? What is it, Senpai?"

She smiles while she looks at her. "Yesterday, were you talking to some strange foreigner?"

The girl turns a light shade of red and scuffs her foot. "Oh… you… were watching, Senpai?"

"Just passing by. Someone you know?"

She shakes her head "He was just a strange person, and he seemed lost. He asked me a lot of things, but I couldn't make out what he was saying, so, um…" The girl's gaze drops to the floor.

Tohsaka smiles softly. "Sorry. I was just curious…"

"No, it's alright…"

They walk a little further together, and the girl stops. "Um, here is fine, Senpai. I only have to hand these to him now."

"Alright," Tohsaka says, passing the stack of papers back. Then her brow lifts. "Hey, Sakura? How are things?"

The girl smiles again. "Ah… yes, things are okay. I'm doing fine."

She shakes her head and frowns softly.

_Sakura's not being honest…_

"… Okay. Let me know if Shinji does something again. He doesn't have a hard-stop setting, so it will only get worse if you say nothing."

Taiasu recalls his face from his 'faces found' folder before frowning.

_Wait, Shinji? The blue-haired guy…?_

The girl's smile brightens. "It's fine. You don't need to worry, Senpai. Nii-san has been kind recently."

The small man catches her qualifier, and his eyes narrow sharply as hands form into tiny fists.

_… Recently?_

Tohsaka waves her off, and starts walking, Taiasu close behind, and Archer doubtlessly nearby as well.

Taiasu glances around and sees no one.

"You know her?" he asks.

"Huh? You mean Sakura?"

"Yeah," he says. "I saw her a few times. She's always… so reserved."

"That's just how she is. Yeah, I know her…" Her voice trails off.

"So… what's her relation to that blue-haired guy? That 'Shinji' person?"

Tohsaka's eyes widen. "You don't know?"

Taiasu can only shrug. "How could I?" he says. "All I have to go on is what I've heard, and you asked if he'd been treating her well. I know they have the same last name, so they can't be… dating… bleh."

He sticks his tongue out, and then pulls it back in as it gets a taste of his mask, and Tohsaka laughs.

"No, she's his sister…" Her voice drops away again.

"She's his sister…?" Taiasu frowns. "They're so… different. He's such a complete…" His frown sharpens.

"I get what you mean." Tohsaka's thoughts are still in some far off place.

"So how do you know her?" he asks.

"Well, she's a student here, so it's only natural I'd know her, right?"

"Sorry…" he says, looking down.

She glances down at him, raising an eyebrow. "Why?"

"… I know. You gave her that ribbon, right?"

Tohsaka stops mid-step. "How… do you know that?"

"I saw into her soul too." He scuffs the floor. "I was going to keep quiet but… you seemed sad. Just thought… If you knew I know, you could talk more if you wanted," he says, twisting his hands. "You listened to me a lot yesterday, but I can listen too… I don't know everything, but I know you were closer than you're pretending. I know something separated the two of you when you were young. And that's when you gave her one of your red hair ribbons."

She remains quiet, staring at the floor.

"Sorry… I think I said—"

"She's my sister."

Taiasu's eyes widen and he gasps softly as his head turns to look up to see her wearing a sad smile.

"Your sister…? I thought you might have just been good friends, but I didn't… Then, she's not that guy's sister?"

She shakes her head. "His family adopted her… It's a thing with the families of magi that would take too long to explain."

He stares at the ground. "Sorry… I made you think of something sad again."

Her smile lifts. "It's fine. And you're right. If you already knew, it's not as if I'm burdening you with my baggage by talking about it."

"Tohsaka…" he looks up at her.

"Hm? What?" She looks down at him.

"Nothing… Just, you know… Thanks. I'm glad I could help you unburden yourself a bit."

Her smile drops as her mouth hangs slightly, and her eyes widen for a brief moment.

Then she smiles a soft smile again and laughs for a second.

"You know, you're a strange little guy…"

* * *

The last bell rings as the sun dips low in the sky, with students filtering out of the classroom.

"Let's get started, Archer. We need to check the boundary field first," Tohsaka says. "We'll decide what to do with it once we know what sort it is."

Archer remains quiet, and they make their way throughout the school. The entire time they move about, Tohsaka counts something in her head at each place she stops. Finally, they make their way to the roof.

"Seven… This looks like the origin," she says, staring at something on a wall Taiasu can't perceive. She kneads the knot in her forehead. "Damn it… This is beyond me."

"So, what's a boundary field?" Taiasu asks again.

"Not now." Her eyes narrow further while her mouth forms into a thin line. "Archer. Are you Servants this sort of creature?"

"Basically. We are spirits, and so we subsist mainly on souls and thoughts, in much the same way you subsist on meat and grain," Archer says in his even tone. "Doing so increases our energy capacity, making us tougher, more durable."

"So the Master apparently isn't providing enough magical energy…?"

"Hey, I don't get it," Taiasu says. "What do you mean by all that?"

"Taiasu, I won't explain everything right now, but someone set this up to consume everyone in this school like food," Tohsaka says, still trying to focus. "It was a Master, or their Servant. Masters have to provide their Servants with magical energy, so if they can't, then they have to resort to things like… this…"

"Magical energy? You mean like aether?" Taiasu asks.

"You said that yesterday, right? I think it's similar," she says.

Taiasu shakes his head. "I think aether is more versatile. It's what lets me do stuff like hide from people in plain sight, and… well, Ninjutsu right now."

"Ninjutsu?" Tohsaka says, staring at the empty space and rubbing her forehead. "Like what you were saying yesterday? About those people who taught you?"

He nods "It's what let me escape from Archer. It's also what let me freeze him." He smirks smugly, recalling that moment. "I just have to be careful right now. If I do too much… well, it could go bad for me since there's none for me to draw on outside those crystals."

"Magical energy, aether, whatever you want to call it," Archer says, interjecting. "It's not so much about whether the master can supply it. It's just that having more is never a bad thing. For some Masters, it's just playing smart, stealing energy from people around them. Like this boundary field, for instance."

"Archer." Tohsaka's eyes narrow and she gnashes her teeth. "Never say anything like that again."

"Of course not. I'd never stoop to such unsavory tactics." He responds coolly, and Tohsaka relaxes.

"Let's get rid of this. It's pointless in the long run, but hopefully it will slow them down," she says while approaching the wall, holding out her left arm. A brilliant light erupts around her.

"Abzug. Bedienung Mittelstand."

Taiasu shakes his head.

_Deduction… Operation middle class…? That's not the same language as before._

Her arm glows in a way similar to when she had been about to release her wrath in her bedroom that morning. She chants something that makes no sense to Taiasu, reaching out to touch the wall. Her hand stops just before the wall as an unfamiliar voice fractures the surrounding silence.

"What? You're just going to erase it? That's such a waste," the voice says with a sarcastic laugh.

With one swift motion, Tohsaka turns around to face it, and Taiasu turns as well, his hairs standing on end.

Her gaze traces a path and his follows to see a man in a form fitting blue outfit with blood-red eyes, steel plated pauldrons on his shoulders, and blue hair, cut in a loose, moderate-length, flat-top, and bound in a long ponytail in the back standing casually on top of a water tower a good distance away.

"You did this?" Tohsaka asks, her form tensing up.

The air feels like it could shatter at any moment.

"Not me, no. Those sorts of tricks are a magi's job. We only fight like we're told, right? Just like you over there?" the man says to something or someone unseen.

Tohsaka swallows hard. "You're a Servant…"

He grins, showing only teeth. "Bingo. So that makes you an enemy, right?" he says. "Still, I messed up. I shouldn't have called out for the fun of it…"

His tone is casual, almost friendly, but his words cause Tohsaka to freeze. The guy raises his arm, and in a showy display of power, a red weapon two meters long materializes in his hand.

Blood red.

A spear that strikes to the core for its appearance.

Tohsaka reacts on instinct, jumping to the side as the man lands, his polearm slicing through the air where she had just been.

"Hah! You have some good legs, young lady!" the man says, laughing.

* * *

It happens quickly. Taiasu watches the man leap into the air and land next to the girl as she lunges to one side, timing well her evasion of the attack. His eyes widen and his heart slams against his chest as the spear head comes so close the air causes her hair to flutter in the air current it creates.

_No…_

A door in his mind groans against the weight it holds back.

Faces flash through his mind. Many faces. Faces of friends. Friends of friends. Lost loved ones. Those whom he's grieved, and those who have grieved for those whom he's grieved.

For those for whom he still grieves.

A man, small like himself, well skilled in the manipulation of powerful magics, being enveloped in a brilliant blast of blinding white light.

A woman, playful and charming, moving her hand and into a beam of light being channeled into a white crystal construct, and vanishing.

_No—!_

A fair young woman with pale, cold skin taking on the form of the Lady of Ice before succumbing to a barrage of gunfire and falling from the sky.

Another, beautiful, fair-skinned, with long flowing blonde hair, being swept away to another world, and laying down her life for it.

_No, no, no, no, NO, NO!_

Another young woman he barely knew, being impaled by a sword of light and transformed into a hideous monstrosity.

A young man, standing hard against a beam of light as he acts as the small man's shield, before the light pierces his shield and body.

His jaw clenches so tightly his teeth might break. Before he's even aware, his hands are gripping the hilts of his weapons tightly he can feel blisters forming.

_I… WON'T… LET… YOU…!_

* * *

The man turns to see Taiasu bearing down on him from the shadows. His kodachi slice through the air, coming down at a speed far beyond any he'd shown during his clash against Archer. Though not fast enough, as the man in blue deflects his attack with the shaft of his polearm. Both blades bounce harmlessly away, sending a few sparks into the surrounding night.

"What?!"

He jumps backward, turning his head toward another space as his eyes grow wide.

"No, wait, but…?"

Taiasu recoils from the forceful deflection, and lands a small distance away.

"Taiasu…!" Tohsaka calls out from her new, safer position. Her leap out of harm's way has carried her to the fence surrounding the roof.

Lancer looks from Tohsaka back to Taiasu, shaking his head. "But your servant is there, so who is…?!" The man seems more confused with each passing second. "Wait… What's a 'Taiasu'…?"

* * *

His mask conceals his features, but they still come through with uncanny sharpness. Every fiber of his being is taut. His eyes, narrowed to slits, see only this man in blue who has just made an attempt on this girl's life.

"I WON'T LET YOU…!"

He sheathes both kodachi in the blink of an eye, and with unconscious swiftness he performs the two hand signs needed to meld his aether, his own sustaining life force, into something pliable.

"HURT MY **_FRIENDS!_** **_RAITON NO JUTSU!"_**

A tracer descends to the roof, targeting where the man in blue stands, and an instant later, a violent blast of purple lightning falls from the sky. The explosion rocks the area with a deafening roar while it envelops the surrounding night in a brilliant flash of light. It releases a shockwave reaching as far as the surrounding fence, and Tohsaka shields her face to guard against it as casts her twin tails straight behind her.

The man in blue leaps back, narrowly evading the blast. Before he can land, Taiasu is on him, slashing downward with both weapons. The man's lance comes up, and knocks both away as he again lunges backward.

* * *

"Taiasu…" Tohsaka's voice is just above a whisper. She stands staring, stunned in stunned silence.

_He wasn't like that when he was fighting Archer… That's… not the same person._

"Rin… It might be wise to withdraw." Archer's voice comes out, his form still immaterial.

"No…" Her voice is quiet, but firm.

_I want to see this…_

* * *

The man in blue lands a good distance away, on full guard now, but Taiasu yields not for an instant, lunging forward and into the air, bearing down like a tiny whirlwind of blades whose only purpose is to see this man in shreds. The man exploits the reach of his weapon to great effect, deftly deflecting the repeated assault with speed and precision, both while Taiasu is in the air, and after he lands.

Each attack comes with ferocious and swift purpose, directed at everything in reach. The length of his blades, and his repeated parting from the ground, make up for any deficiency in his stature. Feet. Legs. Hands. Arms. Chest. Shoulders. Neck. Head.

Nothing is outside his reach.

With each strike being swatted away, his offensive comes with little efficacy. Unconcerned and undeterred, he persists. The man in blue is a picture of frustration and confusion. At the moment, this diminutive person seems little, if any threat, but what proves so frustrating is that he's here at all.

"I… don't… get… this.." the man says, continuing his perplexed defensive. "She… already had… one… Servant… what the… hell… are… you…?"

Taiasu lands from his most recent failed offensive, and the man thrusts his lance forward to pin him to the ground. The small man turns to the side to evade, and a familiar cloud obscures his form. Pulling his lance from the shattered roof tile, the man blinks several times as the cloud clears.

**_"HYOTON NO JUTSU…!"_ **

Before the man can find him, Taiasu has reappeared behind him and performed the two hand signs necessary to ply his aether for a different ninjutsu. He claps the man's leg in much the same way he had done to Archer. The rough and jagged ice encases him similarly, yet to less effect, crawling from his feet up his entire body, but leaving his head and neck free.

Taiasu leaps away, landing near Tohsaka, breathing heavily before falling to one knee, keeping himself upright by resting his right hand on the roof.

_Damn it…! Why didn't it…! No… that doesn't matter now…_

He looks up at Tohsaka. "Sorry… Are you okay?"

"Taiasu… what?" She looks at him in shock.

"Sorry… I can't fight him like this. I was just so…" He glares at the ground, the frustration on his face clear even behind his mask. "I'm sorry… I shouldn't have let him get close to you…"

"Rin, can we withdraw _now?"_ Archer's voice is more pressing.

The man in blue grinds his teeth as he exerts himself against the ice.

"Ah… Yeah… let's get to the ground, Archer."

She stares at the small man, still on one knee.

_What is this guy…?_

* * *

_"It is big, it is small."_ Tohsaka recites another chant, and Taiasu smacks his head on hearing it.

_Come on, that can't be what she said…_

Her left arm glows, illuminated by a series of incomprehensible glyphs and symbols.

Taiasu stares up at the fence, panting and kneeling, and then looks back at the girl.

_Damn it… it won't… hold him…_

He turns and faces the man in the ice as cracks begin to form in it.

"Just go… I'll… hold him—!?"

"Don't be stupid," she says flatly as she grabs the small man by the arm and lifts his insignificant frame. With a single, graceful leap, she clears the fence surrounding the roof, carrying him along.

His eyes widen as the roof and the fence get further away.

_Wait… what…?_

"Archer, take care of the landing."

"Right."

"Hey, are you… running… away… damn it, what is this!?" The man in blue curses, still trying to free himself.

Their descent slows before they reach the ground. Tohsaka releases Taiasu's arm, and he stumbles forward a few steps.

_Damn it. I went too far… It feels almost as bad as… the first day…_

Breathing is hard, and his entire body aches even though he'd not received a single blow.

_Yeah… this is bad…_

"Are you alright?"

He glances back and can see Tohsaka's face, her brows rising as she takes a few tentative steps toward him.

"Not… really…" he says through a couple pained gasps. "Went a little… hard back there. I can walk though. We need to get someplace else, right?"

"Ah… yeah. Just follow me," she says, sprinting past him.

He grits his teeth and sprints after her, following her into the largest part of the schoolyard.

"So how long is that going to hold him?" she asks

"If he's not able to break free, it should last about five more seconds so—"

The man in blue lands in front of them in dramatic fashion, the ground buckling under the force of his impact, and he twirls his lance over his head before directing the business end at them.

"Going someplace?!"

"—Probably… not… long…" Taiasu finishes, stepping in front of Tohsaka, weapons at the ready.

The man scoffs. "Oh, come on. Didn't you already try this?"

The small man stays where he is.

 _He's right…_ _And that was when I was fresh…_

"You can't fight him as you are now, right?" Tohsaka whispers.

"No… I can't…" Each word comes between a heaving breath.

"So, have you resigned yourselves to death? Got your affairs in order? Any last words, and all that?" the man says, smirking.

"I can't win, but I can hold him off while you get to someplace safe…!" Taiasu says.

"Huh..?" Tohsaka sounds surprised, and Taiasu turns to see her tilting her head. "Why would I do that?"

He glances back at her, blinking several times. "Wh-what? So you don't… I mean…! He almost split you in half! I don't wanna see that!"

"Heeey. I don't want to interrupt your conversation, so can you two hurry so I can get this done? I have places to be." The man says this, yet he politely allows them to continue their dialogue.

"What are you saying. That won't happen, right?" Tohsaka says, smiling. "Archer?"

Finally, Archer's form materializes, standing next to Taiasu.

"Yes. That is the Servant's job, to serve as the sword and shield, after all," he says, smirking.


	16. Red Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Revised: 02/15/2021**

The man's shoulders slump forward and his mouth descends in a frown. "So there's the other one…"

"Just stay here, short man," Archer says. "I'll show you a proper fight."

"Ah… okay…" Taiasu can hear something in his voice and the smirk on his face other than derision or disdain, and he takes a few steps back, watching as Archer steps up to the man in blue.

He sees something that makes him wonder a bit.

_Just… one?_

Archer had come against him with two short-swords. Against this man clad in blue, he wields just one.

"Servant… Lancer—" Tohsaka says, her voice taut.

Taiasu glances up at her.

_Lancer…_

He files his face under non-friendlies.

"That's right. And your Servant is Saber," Lancer says. Then he scowls as his eyes widen. "Or… not? The hell? Who are you?" His gaze falls from Archer to Taiasu. "And why do you have two servants? Isn't it early to have eliminated another Master? Is that one Assassin? It would explain why I didn't sense him… Except I've never heard of an Assassin class using magic like that… So that can't be right, either…"

Taiasu smirks under his mask. He reaches into his pack and takes out six distinct shards. Each is small enough for him to hold three to a hand. After draining them dry, he returns their spent remains to his pack.

_Not enough to fight, but it should keep me upright._

"Pay attention, Lancer," Archer says. "If you've had your fill of fighting women and children, that is."

Taiasu's smirk morphs into a scowl. "I'm not a child."

"Heh. It's funny you thought I was referring to you."

"Who the hells else would you be referring to!?"

A bit of silence returns to the night as the man in red and the man in blue stand facing each other, each sizing up the other. The distance between them is perhaps five meters. With his weapon, Lancer could cover that distance with quick ease.

"… So, not one to engage in one-on-one combat… makes me think you must be Archer." Lancer says, sneering.

Archer offers no response.

"Fine. It's not my favorite, but since the introductions are out of the way, why don't you just bring out that bow of yours, so we can get this over with, Archer? As you saw, I do have the manners to wait for at least that long."

He remains silent.

Tohsaka gasps slightly, and her eyes widen a bit.

_He's… I see._

"Archer," Tohsaka says. "See if you can do better than you did against our small friend, here."

Archer frowns, then snickers and lunges forward in a blur of red.

* * *

"Moron!" Lancer yells, thrusting his spear to meet the charge.

Saying nothing, Archer deflects the thrust with his sword, knocking it away. Deflecting the lance forces him to a halt.

"Stick to your strengths, bowman!" Lancer presses his attack, yelling and taunting.

With each thrust of his weapon, he closes the distance between them in defiance of common battle tactics. Tactics which would suggest an advantage in keeping some distance when using a weapon with a reach like his.

Archer continues to knock each thrust away with his sword, and each time is pushed back further.

Each of Lancer's attacks is a killing blow, targeting every vital point. All are so quick that they leave behind a briefly frozen image, as if light, or time itself wants nothing to do with what is happening here. Another kill-shot closes in on Archer's forehead, and he again parries the attack.

Each deflection casts out a crashing sound of steel breaking against steel. Each punctures the darkness with flashes of light as they send a shower of sparks into the surrounding night.

The small man can only stare in awe.

_Everything until now was just… trying to save myself. That thing with Berserker wasn't real. With Archer was a farce. Even back there on top of the school was nothing. This is…_

He can feel his mouth slack as the night air wicks away moisture from his unblinking eyes.

_This is an actual fight…_

Lancer's attacks continue to accelerate in complete defiance of what should be possible by the rules of reality. The book containing said rules having been summarily and unceremoniously shredded, burned, and extinguished by the spiteful stream of urine called 'this battle'. A rapid, endless stream of piercing drops of rain in an endless monsoon of destruction.

Archer attempts to weather the coming torrent. A torrent which continues knocking him backward. Lancer leaves no opportunity to answer his unyielding assault, only gaining momentum with each attack. Archer's only course is to allow for some distance, and he lunges backward.

Lancer exploits the distance, rushing forward to launch an even more powerful attack. Four consecutive blows. No, they are essentially simultaneous, each one somehow still being answered and deflected by Archer as he maintains his defensive. Taiasu can only continue to stare with his eyelids stuck open at the spectacle unfolding, and he gets a sense from Tohsaka that she is in about the same state of mind.

It's terrible. Deadly. Incomprehensible.

But it's also wonderful. Captivating. Beautiful.

Another loud crash of steel against steel. Answering Lancer's charge sends Archer's sword flying into the distance. The straight thrust aimed as another kill-shot, deflected by the sword, transformed into a sweeping strike which knocked said sword away.

Far and away.

Lancer sneers viciously, preparing to end this battle. He lunges forward, launching three killing attacks in an instant.

That rulebook continues to smolder plaintively as Archer deflects the attack with a shining blade now held within his grasp. Only in this case, there are two. The same two he had wielded during that encounter in the park. An encounter which, after watching this battle play out, feels like so very long ago, despite having been maybe a day now.

Lancer smirks derisively. "A bowman, trying to be a swordsman…"

He continues to push his offensive. If before it had been a monsoon, it is now a hurricane for the force behind each attack. Yet with two short swords now acting as a shield, Archer answers each attack with fluid motions, knocking the lance aside. In a striking turn, it is Lancer who is now being pushed back. Each attack Archer answers brings him closer to his quarry. The sounds of battle ring out symphonically into the night, each clash a note on a bar.

A deadly melody.

Each attack Archer answers is at the cost of one of his antithetical twin blades. Yet, each time he readies to answer again, the blade is back in his hand, as the smoldering ash-heap that used to be the rules of reality cry for mercy.

Finally, a moment of silence for those long-dead rules rings out in the night as the man in red and the man in blue distance from one another, their deadly duet having come to an intermission.

"Twenty… seven… times…" Lancer says, his words delivered through his clenched teeth. "That is how many times I have disarmed you. Still, each time there is another." The voice shatters the brief silence like a hammer, smashing Taiasu out of his stunned state.

_I don't… think I can ever hope to match these guys… If they took it seriously. Shinryu, sure, but I had help then… Thordan, Emet-Selch and Elidibus too… Every single one of those, I had help. And those guys were all monstrous!_

He swallows again, but nothing comes of it as his mouth remains bone dry.

_These guys… They're nothing like that! How can they even do those things! And that's not even getting into my aether problem!_

"That old man… lied to me. There's no way I was ready for this…" His voice is below a whisper.

Despite what he is witnessing, and how he is feeling, like an ant among titans, Watcher's voice, still fresh in his mind despite all that is happening, rings clear.

 _'I promise, you're more than skilled enough for any of the challenges that await you.' How can that still feel like it isn't a lie after this? Why does that still feel so… gods damn_ true?

"What's wrong, Lancer?" Archer says, smirking. "You're just standing there. What happened to all of that energy?"

Lancer clicks his tongue. "Don't talk crap, you lousy cheater." Then he smirks. "Fine, I'll just ask. Which hero are you? Never heard of a bowman using two swords."

"Well, I won't be saying, but I know exactly who you are. Only the fastest are selected into the Lancer class, but you seem even beyond that. Not three in the world at your level, and only one with such bestial agility."

"Hm… So you figured me out? Well said, Archer." Lancer smirks again, but his facade vanishes as he raises the blunt end of his lance skyward, directing the tip toward the ground. His venomous stare pierces Archer's very being. "But since you know, I can't let you live."

"Whenever you're ready. I'll have to defeat you eventually," Archer says, even toned as ever.

Lancer lowers his form close to the ground.

Taiasu can feel his skin crawl and finds himself unable to move as a chill permeates the schoolyard. The air again feels frozen, and he can sense something trying to draw the aether from him.

"—Crap…" Tohsaka's voice carries a short distance. "Archer's going to…"

Taiasu looks back at Tohsaka and can see her go pale.

_Even I can feel this… There's something unnatural…_

He looks back to Lancer, still crouched low, as if waiting for the sound of a starting whistle or a gunshot.

Or the cancellation notice on a stay of execution.

Taiasu can see it in his mind.

Archer, dead. Him, dead.

Tohsaka, dead.

She glances down at her feet and sees a dissipating, dark cloud where Taiasu had been standing frozen just moments before. At Lancer's feet stands Taiasu, firmly gripping the polearm just behind the business end. A weapon that had been moments away from conducting a lethal transaction.

Archer looks at him, his eyes widening and his mouth going slack.

Tohsaka looks at him, mouth agape and shaking her head.

Lancer looks at him, having felt the added weight to the tip of his spear, his head tilting as his brow full-arches into the middle of his forehead.

"… What are you doing?"

Taiasu secures his grip on the weapon as he glances up.

_Oh, hells… What did I just do?_

Seeing his new friends murdered in his mind had caused him to act without thinking. Nothing new there.

Lancer laughs for a second as he rubs the back of his neck.

"Get lost, kid, the adults are talking."

He lifts the tip of the spear from the ground and launches Taiasu with a swift knee to the chest. Given their difference in size, it's closer to a knee to the entire body. He groans as he sails limply through the air, back toward Tohsaka, and he lands on the ground in a huddled mass, clutching his chest where the hit had connected.

At the last instant, he'd released the spear and guarded against the coming attack, softening the blow. It still hurt like hell and left him winded. It might have left him unconscious otherwise.

Lancer's brow again arches upward, but only for a moment as he dismisses this momentary distraction. He then turns his gaze elsewhere, away from Taiasu, Tohsaka, and Archer, having taken notice of something else.

"—Who's there…!?" he yells.

Tohsaka looks down at Taiasu first, who's already on his feet, filling his lungs. She then looks toward footsteps and lets out a small gasp. "There was… still a student here!?"

The small man continues recovering his wind.

_A student…?_

"Seems so…" Archer says

Tohsaka groans and palms her face. "I screwed up… I didn't notice because I was so preoccupied with your battle…" She turns her stare toward her Servant. "Hey, Archer, what are you doing?"

He glances back at her. "… Resting?"

"I can see that. What about Lancer?"

Archer shrugs. "He went off to deal with that guy, I guess? Probably to take care of him since he saw us."

Taiasu's eyes widen.

_Take care of him? That can't…_

Arche's casual expression sends a chill through the small man.

"A-and you're just… you're just going to LET HIM!?" Taiasu snaps, before turning and running off. He makes his way toward where the footsteps had run off, gaining a bit of strength back as he goes.

_Don't be too late… don't be too…_

* * *

"I know. I saw the girl's Servant, so I'll go back now."

Lancer is speaking to someone. His annoyed tone carries down the hall, yet no voice responds to his complaining. The voice carries through the hall and to his ears as he runs forward through the school building.

"Archer, huh? Interrupting my fight for this, what a…" He sighs. "Yeah, even I have to follow my Master's orders." Lancer's complaining tone continues to echo as Taiasu rounds the corner where he expects to find him.

_Don't be too late… Don't… be…_

Taiasu mutters inwardly, looking to see the man in blue leaving through an open window, and a form lying motionless on the ground.

He freezes in place.

_Damn… it_

The pain in his chest is being replaced with another pain.

_No… don't lose hope, stupid. There might be something…?_

The smell of blood reaches him as he rushes forward, hoping against reason.

It's not an extraordinary amount of blood, but it pools out around the form as it comes from the gaping chest wound. Taiasu steps through it and kneels down to see if there's any chance. Then he sees the face of the form, and it steals his air all over again.

_No… no!_

He falls backward, eyes wide, shaking his head. As his gaze falls to the open chest wound, something in his mind shatters.

His chest grows tight, restricting him to shallow gasps of air. His heart groans as it hammers in his chest. Every muscle in his body tenses, tenses, and tenses again. His eyes fail him as the memories threaten to overwhelm. The door shatters. Not a literal door, but the door in his mind. A well-guarded gate which serves as a protection. The sight before him acts both as the key for the lock, and the force which tears it from its frame. The images pour out and flood into his mind.

It's not the Echo that carries his mind away this time. The images in his mind of the enormous sword, piercing through a woman's back, and coming out through her chest.

No. These memories are well and truly his.

He hasn't forgotten. He never could.

His lips tremble violently as her name passes between them.

"T… Tesleen…!"


	17. The Light and The Binding

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Updated: 02/15/2021**

Taiasu charges forward, with his companion Alisaie at his side across the desolate savannah in a world dominated by a canopy of unyielding, endless light. To their sides rise stony crags which may have aspired to be mountains, but find themselves lacking enough height to be anything more than large, rocky hills.

His friend, the young Elezen woman, bears the hallmarks of her race. Her skin is fair, and her ears protrude like his, though hers end in sharp points. She wears her roughly cut white hair in a ponytail, bound with a red ribbon. She wears a short dress with cream-colored shoulders and sleeves, and red around the chest and waist. Her long white boots rise to meet her dress high at her thigh.

Their course takes them toward a determined young woman as she charges a creature corrupted by light which stands before a young boy with skin like alabaster.

The woman charging carries a sword, and her blond hair reaches halfway down her back. She adorns it with a white headband and wears a gray dress and dark, thigh-high boots. Her brown eyes betray her desperation.

The creature raises its sword against the boy, shield affixed to the opposing arm. It wears an ornate white chest plate, greaves and gauntlets, and its flesh is an unnatural tone of white. Its eyes are black, cold, callous and unfeeling. Its wings would suggest a majestic nature, but this creature is no angel.

As it raises its weapon against the child before it, the child only stands in his dark gray jacket, worn over his brown tunic and long gray cloth pants, staring back with indifference.

Before the creature can end the boy, the determined young woman strikes, severing one of its majestic wings. With no thought for her own safety, she places herself between it and the boy.

"We have to run!" the woman calls out as the boy regards her with a vacant expression.

He's not to blame. The light and the creatures of this world that wield it to such terrible effect have corrupted him as well. In time, he will transform into something unspeakable.

The woman's eyes go wide as the creature to which she has exposed herself exploits this opening and drives its sword through her back. One would expect an outpouring of blood to come from such an injury, but what surges forth is a sinister white light.

"Tesleen, no!" Alisaie cries out.

Death would have been a mercy, but these creatures know no such thing.

Her sword falls impotently to the ground as the woman's eyes narrow with understanding of what has happened, and how this instant in time has sealed her fate. Her expression softens as she uses what little time she has to convey her words to the expressionless boy before her.

"We all deserve happiness… wherever we can find it…" With what strength she has remaining, she reaches toward the boy's face as his eyes remain indifferent.

"The time left to you… is precious… No one should die… in pain…"

The pitiless creature tears its weapon from the woman, and with it a small spray of blood. Though it has withdrawn the weapon, the light left within her persists. The woman falls to her knees, hands stretching forward.

Her form trembles as the light in the injury intensifies. Her agonized screams evoke no sympathy from the monster as it only watches with a callous look in its eyes. The light continues to intensify as it envelopes her form, pouring from her eyes and mouth.

She falls forward as the light erupts in torrents from her mouth onto the ground. The boy continues to subject her to his dead-eyed stare. The monster watches with cruel indifference. Whatever it had wanted with this child, it has found with this woman.

She looks up at the boy with eyes that are no longer hers as her mouth hangs agape in a voiceless scream. Tangible light oozes from her, and though her form remains human, any distinct features are stripped away and replaced by a vivid, blinding white glow.

Taiasu can only stand beside his companion as they gaze in horror at what unfolds.

The woman reaches toward the boy before the light erupts around her, entombing her in a cocoon to complete her horrific transformation.

It only takes seconds, and the cocoon shatters and crumbles to dust.

What emerges no longer resembles anything close to the young Hyur woman known as Tesleen. Hunched over, eyes black as night, flesh white like the light which had formed it, wings protruding from its shoulders, claws where its hands and feed should be, and a long tail protruding from its back between its legs.

This is what the light does when it corrupts a person.

"Oh no, no… No, no, no, no, no!" Alisaie cries out as she rushes forward in some vain hope, while Taiasu remains at her side.

Satisfied that its work is complete, the creature that caused this ascends to the sky and withdraws. The other which had once been Tesleen ascends as well, and with the last vestiges of consciousness that it possesses, it turns to Taiasu and his friend.

"Forgive me… Alisaie…" Its voice rasps out a mournful apology.

Alisaie collapses, wracked with sob after painful sob as the creature flies off to be with its new kin, and Taiasu can only stand and watch, unable to offer even a shred of comfort.

The memory only serves as his cruel tormentor now.

_If I'd been faster… If I'd been stronger… It should have been me… Why did it have to be… Why is it always…_

* * *

Devastating memories continue to cascade in a tumultuous avalanche of grief, pain, and loss.

A small man, but not this small man, for his white hair is longer than Taiasu's, and he carries a staff at his back. A weapon meant to harness and channel aether, both from within and without. A weapon which Taiasu had never learned to use. He wears a dark colored flowing robe which billows in the night as he rushes forward, a woman at his side.

A woman wearing a white jacket, white shorts that stop centimeters above her thigh high red boots, and a mask that conceals her true identity. The both of them rush across the large and sundered platform at Baelsar's wall toward Taiasu as he stands staring down at his quarry.

At their side is the indomitable young Elezen, standing with his rough cut white mane, replete in his long, purple jacket, short white tie, white undercoat and pants.

Taiasu turns at the sound of their approach and smiles at his equally diminutive friend and their two companions.

"There you are!" his small friend says.

"As you can see, our infiltrators did not elude me for long," the young Elezen says. "Lady Yugiri is sending for an airship even as we speak."

"What do we do!?" the woman opposite his small friend cries out. "This is a massacre!"

She speaks in mourning of the countless fallen soldiers who had followed the man now rising to his feet. The man Taiasu had finished laying low with the timely aid of his adventuring companions. Believing their business concluded, they had left soon after, and though their names elude him, their faces remain.

They always did.

The man laughs scornfully. "How wonderful to see you… _Commander_."

With a sneer, he fires his venomous greeting at the young Elezen.

"Ilberd! I should have known…" The young Elezen man sprints forward a few steps. "This has to end! It has to end _now!_ Do you not see your countrymen dying? Have your ideals rendered you blind even to that? Order the retreat, and we will help your soldiers to safety!"

" _Retreat_? With the moment of my triumph so close at hand?" Ilberd's eyes narrow to slits. "You truly are a sheltered child, Leveilleur."

Ilberd produces from behind his back two frozen glowing red orbs. The eyes of a fallen dragon.

"Nidhogg's eyes!" The young Elezen's eyes widen. "… No abyss is too deep for you, I see. But trust me when I say that such power was not meant for mortal hands."

Ilberd casts his gaze to the ground. "How long I have struggled to reach this point!" he yells. "My countrymen so inured to the taste of defeat, they no longer balk at its bitterness. Shouting my throat raw with rallying cries, only to be greeted with dull eyes and blank faces! My 'brothers' and 'sisters' in Ul'dah have surrendered to their apathy and their appetites. Were it not for the glint of Lolorito's coin, I doubt even those here now would have answered my call!" The more he speaks, the faster and more erratic his words come.

"'Take back our homeland! Free Ala Mhigo!' Hah! They'll happily mouth the words, but they won't spill the blood!" His glare rises from the ground, piercing into the young Elezen, the man he had referred to as Leveilleur. "You say no mortal should wield these eyes? Then I shall gladly become a demon. I will suckle on the souls of the hopeless and liberate the homeland they no longer deserve!"

The young Elezen man takes another step forward. "What exactly do you mean to do…?"

His countenance darkens. "Did you hear their cries as victory was snatched away from them? Even with their dying breaths, they cursed the Empire! Never has their desire for vengeance been so raw, so true! A god has no need of faith when _summoned_ by so pure a purpose!"

"Summoned!?" Taiasu's small friend's eyes narrow.

"You cannot mean to fight the empire with a primal! You know full well the danger—the _futility_ of relying on such power!" The young Elezen's words come thick with incredulousness.

"Oh, yes. I know their limitations—which is why I will call upon a deity more terrible than the very black wyrm of the Calamity itself!" Ilberd raises the frozen eyes of Nidhogg aloft, his head tilted back and his eyes closed as those two orbs glow with a sinister, crimson light, the ice encasing them vanishing into the night.

"What… Here!? Now!?" The other small man's voice betrays the seriousness of the situation.

"Like hells you will!" the woman growls, her Gut Wrenchers, two heavy fist weapons each adorned with three blunt spikes at the ready. She charges, but her strike meets only air as Ilberd leaps back, the glowing red eyes of Nidhogg still held aloft. He lands on a small platform at the edge of the larger platform atop which they all stand.

A maniacal smile mars the man's face as he steps toward the edge.

"An ending to mark a new beginning… My pain! My longing! You shall have it all!" He casts himself into the night, and the sound of his impact punctuates that of his crazed laughter as he collides with the ground, some five stories below them.

Though dead, Ilberd has completed his work, and the power of the wyrm's eyes radiates outward among his fallen kin. Collecting their essence, the power forms into a glowing sphere which rises from the ground before erupting in a shining pillar of crimson light. High above, a cocoon of light forms, answering the call and the will of those slain men.

The young Elezen's eyes widen further as he stares at the spectacle unfolding. "This light, is it…"

Their small friend's eyes narrow. "His death completed the ritual. The primal is taking shape."

"Well, can't we stop it!? There must be something we can do!" the woman cries out desperately.

"There is… one thing." Their small friend's brows draw tightly inward, and his eyes tell that he knows what must be done. He marches with purpose toward the edge of the platform, and that shining pillar of light.

The woman's gaze follows his modest stride, somehow broader now than hers would ever be. "Wha—? Hey! Where do you think you're going!?"

"Master Louisoix briefly contained Bahamut by means of a potent spell," the man says, his head turned toward the woman. "I mean to do the same."

"But that's impossible!" the young Elezen cries. "We would need hours to collect the necessary aether, i-if not days!"

The man casts his gaze toward his other companion. "Ah, Alphinaud… Though I concede it may not always be apparent, I was ever your grandsire's finest pupil." He reaches into his robe and produces the head of a broken staff. His eyebrows press in again as his eyes narrow, his expression filling with firm resolve.

Alphinaud gasps. "Tupsimati, of course! The staff still holds enormous power, broken or not."

"Don't you dare, Papalymo! I know how that spell works!" the woman says, her voice rising in anguish.

The landing of an air-faring vessel interrupts their disagreement.

"It is time to leave!" A beautiful young Au'ra with long, silken black hair, features subtly accented by the two horns and scales of her race, and graced by her traditional shinobi garb, waves them aboard.

"Quite right!" Papalymo calls out, unwavering. "Quickly, now! Off you go! The further away the better!"

"No! If you're staying, then so am I!" the woman says with a firm head-shake.

"No, Yda!" he says, turning to face her. "There is a path only you can walk, and it must not end here—not like this!" The broken staff remains firmly in his grasp, and he stands resolve unshaken.

Yda's expression falters, but she remains anchored where she stands. Papalymo casts his gaze downward, before he raises it to someone aboard the recently landed craft.

"Take her! Please, you must take her!" he calls out to the man with the bandana across his left eye on board the flying vessel.

The man's eyes widen, but then narrow with understanding at Papalymo's single firm nod.

Alphinaud grunts with discontent, sprinting toward the airship as the man on board leaps down, rushing toward Yda. With no ceremony and less permission, he heaves the woman over his shoulder and charges toward the airship.

"Wha—No! Damn it, Thancred! Put me down!" She flails impotently at his back in desperation. "Thancred!"

The anguish in her voice carries into the night as he disregards her pleas. Papalymo closes his eyes against her declaration before opening them again, a small, sad smile adorning his mouth.

"This is one battle you cannot fight," he says, turning his head toward Taiasu. "Away with you. Go!"

Taiasu breaks his silence.

"No. I'm staying until this is over, regardless," he says, shaking his head. "I'll match your resolve, onze for onze."

Papalymo's eyes slide closed as he frowns, his small eyebrows drawing inward again.

"I know you would, my friend." He turns to face him. "That's why, I'm not giving you the choice!"

Before Taiasu can react, a sphere of concentrated aether launches from his friend's hand, colliding with him and sending him sailing aboard the airship.

"Hilda!" Thancred yells. "I think he means now!"

Hilda, the attractive Elezen at the helm, nods and brings the airship skyward and away from the platform.

Yda runs to the edge of the deck, watching her friend fade into the distance as the ship moves away.

Taiasu and his friends can only watch the resolved determination of Papalymo as he stands alone before the storm. Their distance should be too far for his words to reach them, yet somehow…

"I bid thee farewell again, my dear Yda. Now, let us see how good a student I truly was."

He raises the head of the shattered staff aloft, and a pillar of azure light takes form in the sky above him before shaping into an impossibly long crystalline lance. It launches into the sky, joined by at least a dozen identical to it.

The sharp end of each lance pierces into the glowing cocoon, enveloping it in a triad of runic rings. The space between each fills with countless azure cubes, and the cocoon's prison strips away the night with its magnificent light.

Papalymo smiles as the spell takes hold, the light engulfing his form which then vanishes without trace.

Taiasu rails against the memory.

_You stupid… I could have helped… I could have carried… I could have shared the burden…! It didn't… Why… Why…!?_

The weight against his chest crushes the breath from his lungs. He forces his eyes closed, pressing his hands against his head in a vain effort to shut out the torment.

* * *

"He's right! Go after them, Archer!"

Tohsaka yells at her Servant, who stands relaxing as Lancer goes after the witness, an innocent young student.

"I'll catch up!"

He sighs, nods, and vanishes in a flash.

"Damn it, how did I miss this…!"

She stomps her foot before sprinting after her Servant, following their unseen connection.

_I was so careful at the park! How did I let this happen!?_

She enters the building and rounds the corner, and looks up the hall to find her Servant standing motionless over the fallen form of the student, and Taiasu sitting and gazing blankly into space.

The smell of freshly spilled blood wafting through the dark night quickly reaches her nose as she runs toward her Servant, the student on the floor, and her new associate.

Archer sighs. "They were both like this when—"

"Go after Lancer. Find his master," Tohsaka says coldly as she stops where the spilled blood starts. "Otherwise, this is meaningless."

He glances aside and then nods and disappears.

She stares down at Taiasu, who remains rooted. His form gives an occasional violent tremble, and his dull eyes stare vacantly into the distance, perceiving something she can't see or imagine.

_What… No. Not the time. This has to come first._

She turns her attention toward the fallen form of the slain student. A male, by his uniform. Her lower lip stings as she chews it unconsciously.

_Damn it… this is my fault…?_

The boy on the floor shudders as he takes in a trembling breath.

_He's… alive, somehow…?_

Her hand trembles as she kneels down, reaching out toward him.

"I… should at least… be with him for the last few moments…"

She places her hand on his shoulder and gently rolls him onto his back. Then her eyes take in his face, and the wind is sucked from her lungs.

_N… no… not… Why. Why did it…!_

Her hands fly to her face, and another face flashes through her mind.

_Sakura… this will… this will crush her…_

She shakes her head. "No… he's not dead yet. Maybe… maybe there's something…?" Her hand reaches up and clutches the jeweled pendant suspended around her neck by a fine silver chain. "This might… this could work…" In spite of herself, a small smile plays across her mouth. "If it does, I'll be a shoo-in at the Clock Tower…"

She holds the pendant in her left hand, and her left arm lights up the hallway with its incomprehensible glyphs and sigils. Her other hand, she rests on the boy's chest, and the magical energy within the pendant flows through her and into his frail, fallen form. The moments pass like hours, and when the process is complete, the hole in the boy's chest begins to slowly mend itself closed.

Tohsaka heaves a tremendously relieved sigh and lets the pendant drop at her feet. "Sorry, father…" she says, shaking her head sadly. "I used your gift for such a thing… Still, this is fine, right? For him, for Sakura… I had to take responsibility… Please don't be angry at your worthless daughter…"

She wipes her eyes and then looks toward her other new friend.

_He's still…?_

She approaches him cautiously and lowers herself in front of him before she grips his shoulder and gently shakes his trembling, diminutive form.

"Taiasu…?"

His empty gaze continues to pierce vacantly into the darkened hallway, and he gives a sudden violent tremor, but no answer forms on his lips.

"Taiasu, come on. We need to…"

His head flops forward, and he blinks a few times, but remains motionless and silent otherwise.

"Taiasu!" She calls his name again for the third time.

His head shakes slowly, and he looks up and sees her kneeling before him, her face in front of his own, and she gazes at him with worried eyes.

"Everything okay…?"

"Unh… T… Tohsaka…?"

His gaze falls from her to the still collapsed form of the boy on the ground. As soon as it come to rest there, his eyes grow huge and his breath becomes quickened and shallow.

"N… no… No… No, no, no…" He lowers his head again, shaking it slowly as he holds it between his arms. "Not another… Not again… Please not again…" His voice comes out soft and quivering.

"Taiasu…?" Tohsaka leans closer, but he scrabbles backward.

"No… not again, please… I can't do it again… I can't anymore… please…"

Tohsaka watches as he mumbles incoherently, his form trembling, and his head shaking from side to side.

_What… happened to him?_

He continues shaking his head, his eyes clenched tightly closed. "Tesleen… Papalymo… Izel… Minfillia… Please not again…"

She takes a tentative step toward him again, remaining low to the ground.

_Is this…?_

"Taiasu, take a breath. He's okay."

He draws himself inward, making his diminutive form even smaller. "No, he's not… I saw it… I saw… It's happening again. It's happening again… Please just no… Not again, not again…"

Tohsaka shakes her head as she rubs the back of her neck.

 _I don't know how to deal with this…_ _Anyone else, I'd just smack them across the head and tell them to look, but…_

"Taiasu, look at me," she says firmly, placing her hand on his shoulder.

He draws in a sharp breath and slowly raises his head.

"Take in another breath and stay here with me. Don't go back there again," she says, locking his gaze with hers.

She helps him to regulate his breathing from the shallow, rapid style in which he'd been engaging. After a few minutes, it normalizes to something more steady.

"Tohsaka… he's… he's…"

His gaze starts again to fall toward the form on the floor behind her.

"Don't look at him, look at me," she says firmly. "He's going to be okay. I don't know what you saw, but I was able to help him, so he's going to be okay."

He slowly lowers his hands. "You were… able to help him…?"

He says these words, but his head still shakes from side to side.

Tohsaka nods once in the affirmative, her mouth turning up in a warm smile. "He'll be okay. I promise… Do you want to tell me what happened?"

His form yields to another violent tremor. "Ah… I… I saw them again…"

"Saw them? Saw who?"

"Tesleen… Papalymo… Everyone… All my friends…" he says, his voice trembling as his eyes well up. He lifts his mask from his head.

"You saw your friends? Shouldn't that—" She stops herself.

_No, if that were true…_

"Did something happen to them?"

He nods, and a few tears stream down the sides of his face.

"A lot… a lot of them… I saw… I saw him and then I just started… I just started remembering… T… Tesleen… she was… I barely knew… but Alisaie knew her… It devastated her… I couldn't do anything…"

He starts shaking his head as his form trembles again.

"Taiasu, don't go back there," she says, pressing into his shoulder with her hand. "Stay here, okay? If talking about it is—"

He shakes his head again. "No… it's okay… Thank you… I want to… I don't want to forget them but… I don't want to remember them… like this…"

"Like how?" she asks, easing up pressure.

"Like this… Sitting here like this… It's a… It's disgraceful…" He sniffles as he wipes his face. "It's shameful… I shamed them… I…"

Tohsaka shakes her head. "Taiasu, there's nothing shameful about grieving for your loved ones."

He looks up, eyes widening as her soft and kind words land with the force of a sledgehammer, shattering every wall, and his mournful wail echoes through the halls as she holds him close to her chest, gently stroking his short, soft head-fuzz.

* * *

A few minutes pass, and the small man rubs his face, having cried his last for the moment.

Tohsaka helps him to his feet before standing herself.

"Will you be alright?"

"I think… I think so…" He glances up at the large wet splotch on her chest. "S-sorry… I got your shirt all wet…"

She smiles and shakes her head. "It's fine… It'll wash out."

"You said he'll be okay?" Taiasu glances down at the boy on the floor and has to fight down another visceral sob.

Tohsaka nods. "It was close… I came here, but you were there like that. I sent Archer after Lancer to run down his master. I didn't know who this was at first…" she says, gesturing to the boy on the floor with the flaming red hair. "I was just going to let him go, but…"

Taiasu looks up at her. "He's… Emiya's important to you?"

She sighs. "Emiya-kun… He's important to Sakura, and she's important to me," Tohsaka says, smiling softly.

He wipes his eyes again as they widen. "You… you knew?"

Her own eyes widen, but then her brief, loud laugh echoes through the hall.

"Yeah, I know," she says. "I mean, if you knew, and you'd only seen them together for… what? It's so clear I can't believe he doesn't see it. Sometimes I wonder if he does, and he's just pretending not to."

Taiasu's laugh echoes this time. "I wondered… I wondered the same…"

"We need to go," Tohsaka says. "He'll probably be conscious soon, and we can't be here when that happens."

Taiasu glances at him and then looks back up at her and shakes his head.

"I can't. I have to stay this time," he says. "I should have been here… I might have…"

"Taiasu." Tohsaka leans down again. "If you'd been here, we'd be burning your corpse tomorrow in a pyre."

"What!?" His eyes widen as he stumbles back a few steps.

"You weren't able to stand against Lancer, right? What makes you think you'd have been able to stand against him here? Especially after you saw what he was capable of in the school courtyard." Her eyes narrow sharply. "Even if you could do much better than that, there're still no guarantees. If anyone is to blame here, it's me for not noticing he was still around before we engaged with Lancer," she says, staring at the floor. "You can't go blaming yourself for things outside your control."

Her eyes shift from the floor back to him.

"Everything worked out the way it ought to have," she says, tweaking his nose. "He's alive, so smile, come eat some wonderful food, and stop worrying about it, okay?"

"Tohsaka…" His eyes well up again like green reflective pools, but she bats the back of his head.

"I said smile, you twerp."

She grins, and he, after hastily wiping his eyes, reflects her expression.

"Good. Now let's go."

She stands and starts walking toward the exit.

Taiasu remains rooted, staring at the ground.

"Taiasu…?" Tohsaka looks back, and his smile fades.

"I… have to take responsibility. The old man told me to follow this kid. I don't know why, but that's what he said, so that's what I'm going to do until I know something else."

Tohsaka's head tilts to one side. "Are you sure he meant Emiya-kun?"

He shrugs. "But until he leads me to another person with striking red hair, it's all I have to go on." He digs through his pack, bringing out the twelve spent crystal shards he's been carrying around.

"I have more but… I mean, you can't carry them all, right?" he says, holding them in his arms. A few scatter to the floor, but he leans down and collects them.

"I… trust you won't blow yourself up with these," he says, smirking. "When… when I have the chance, I'll visit you and give you the rest, okay?"

Tohsaka sighs, shaking her head. "I don't like your implication about me blowing myself up, you shrimp."

"I'll tell you some more stories too!" he says, his smirk morphing into an eager grin as he ignores her comment. "Since you liked them, right? I mean, you did, right?"

She sighs again, but smiles softly and nods. "Sure. I'd like that. Stay out of trouble, and keep him safe, alright?" she says, as she finds places on her person for the crystal shards.

Taiasu gives an eager nod and a thumbs up. "I can't promise the former, but I'll do my best with the latter!"

Tohsaka's long red dress-coat fades from view as she makes her way from the school building. Emiya remains where he had fallen, unconscious but alive, though he still looks much like a murder victim for the hole in his clothing where Lancer had buried his weapon, and the blood on the floor in the hall.

Taiasu heaves an exhausted sigh, collapsing against the wall, mask in hand. He wipes his face again.

_It's been a day…_

He sighs again.

_Tohsaka… she's really nice. I still don't fully understand everything, but I know that's true…_

He digs through his pack, pulling from it twelve crystals, two of each aspect, and lays them on the ground in two groups of six, fanning them out like two separate six pointed pinwheels.

_Two sets should be the equivalent of a cluster…_

He places a hand on the center of each pinwheel and the feeling of fatigue lessens as the color of each diminishes. As the last traces of light disappear, he frowns and sighs for a third time.

_Screw it…_

* * *

He returns the last spent set of crystals to his pack.

_Twenty… that's ten clusters worth… and I still feel exhausted._

He rests his head in his hands and closes his eyes for a moment.

_With everything that's been happening, I'd forgotten how much I missed them…_

As he can feel the onset of memories return, he draws in a deep and steadying breath, and tries to force them back. His eyes shut tight, trying to restore the door that had been so violently ripped open. The feature necessary for his process of compartmentalizing things.

_Death happens… It happens a lot. Stupid to think I could just… ignore it all the time. Maybe I should open that door occasionally, instead of just… hoping it all goes away._

A wry smile plays across his face.

_Not right now, though._

He slides the mask down over his face, the threat of saturating it with his grief having passed. Another deep breath fills his lungs and slowly escapes as his head falls forward, eyes slipping closed.

* * *

Another dream. The man from before, still as familiar, face still as obscured.

The woman from the time preceding that. Still as beautiful and radiant as ever.

Taiasu watches as a silent third party, observing the man's awkward discomfort. It was something he'd seen before.

_It reminds me of how that shy girl is around Emiya…_

He continues his silent consideration of the scene. Though knowing little, this has become something of an interest for him.

_Better than nothing or nightmares, at least._

In a small room, the man finally speaks. The dream garbles the message, as they often do, into something incomprehensible, but the meaning is clear as day.

_He's asking her on a… date?_

The man's face shows his expecting a zero percent chance of success, so when the girl gives only a slight nod in response, the feeling the dream conveys is that of almost unbearable elation.

_Jeez, and I thought that girl had it bad…_

Though formless, Taiasu can still feel a warm smile growing on his face.

_Who even… are these people…?_


	18. The Needed Straight Man

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Revised: 02/15/2021**

"Hng… what…?"

Shirou clutches at his chest as his first moments of consciousness are greeted by a searing pain ripping through him. He forces himself upright and his form is wracked by a hacking, agonized cough.

_I'm… alive? How…?_

His hand comes up and presses into his forehead.

_That guy got me for sure. I know he did…_

His other hand continues to clutch at where he felt the tip of the weapon drive into his heart. He shakes his head and takes in a deep breath, but regrets it immediately as another searing wave of pain and nausea tear through his form, and almost knock him unconscious again.

_D-damn it… Huh?_

He leans forward to try and catch his breath, and something else catches his attention. A small, jeweled pendant on the floor clasped to a simple silver necklace.

_Someone… left this? Maybe whoever it was that saved me?_

He grasps the pendant and slides it into his pocket.

_I'll have to… lost and found, maybe? Unless… what am I even thinking right now. I need to get… home… but first I…?_

The next thing he notices is the small and sleeping form of a familiar figure; a small child in a very convincing ninja cosplay.

_W…what? Him again? Wait… something's odd…_

He grips his head as his brain pounds against his skull.

_I can't… remember… The guy in blue… then that guy in red… then I was running, and now… What is it? What am I forgetting…?_

He shakes his head and sighs heavily.

_Whatever it is, this kid… he can't be here right now…_

* * *

Something pokes Taiasu's face, disturbing his half-sleep. He bats at it restlessly and then rolls over. Being upright, and not laying down, this causes him to topple and smack his head into the floor. He snaps upright and shoots his gaze around. Crouched in front of him is the boy, Emiya, who had just some time earlier nearly met his end, sighing listlessly, his face bearing a subtle frown.

"You shouldn't be here, kid. School's closed. Did you lose your parents again?"

Taiasu glances around a few seconds more. The hallway is still empty, and the school is still quiet. Beside the two of them, there's no one else there.

_Still dark outside… Same day, I guess… wait, what did he say?_

He shakes his head. "Huh? Parents…? Ah crap, I fell asleep…?" He tries to get his bearings as the past few hours flood back into his conscious mind.

Emiya rubs the back of his neck. "Right… Why were you even in the school after hours?"

Taiasu takes in what is possibly the deepest breath he has ever taken, letting it out over a full fifteen seconds.

The boy's brows arch upward. "Um… are you alright?"

He holds up a finger.

_Okay… how the hells do I even begin…_

* * *

Emiya sits on the floor, legs crossed with his eyebrows shifting in quick succession. One moment drawn inward, then raised upward, then lowered. His eyes widen and narrow repeatedly as his mouth shifts from a smirk to a frown as a cavalcade of thoughts march through his mind.

_Is this for real? Am I being screwed with? Is this candid camera? Maybe this is real? Really, where are this kid's parents? I still need to clean the hallway… Why is he still in ninja cosplay? God, I'm tired. I could sleep for a week. Why am I not dead? Seriously, do his parents even know he's missing?_

Taiasu had given as succinct an explanation of who he is, from where he had come, and what he is doing in the school as he'd been able in the past fifteen minutes. Emiya, for all his ability, sat and listened patiently, with equal measures of amusement and disbelief.

"Okay…" he says with an exasperated sigh before standing up.

Taiasu's eyes widen behind his mask. "Huh? So you believe me?"

"I have to clean this mess up…"

The windows in the hall rattle from the force of the small man's head colliding with the ground as he falls backward.

"The… the HELLS?!" he blurts out. "Who cares about the stupid…"

Emiya has already made his way to one of the side rooms, and Taiasu can hear water running. The sound fades, and stops, and the boy steps out with a bucket in one hand, and a mop in the other. Incomprehensibly, the kid slowly cleans up the scene of his near murder, and Taiasu can only stare slack-jawed and eyes gaping.

The time it takes is not long, but for the surreal nature, it feels like years. It doesn't help that blood isn't the most water-soluble substance. It takes two separate return trips to refill the bucket, but the effort proves to be worth it as the hall is as blood-free as it will ever be. Emiya returns the bucket and mop and then sloughs through the hallway toward the exit.

"H-hey… wait!" Taiasu yells.

"Go home, kid."

"Eh… did you… Did you not even listen to a word I said…?"

"I did. I just don't have time for games of pretend with hyper-active, over-imaginative chatterboxes."

Taiasu's head quickly becomes heated. "I… can't… What…?"

He frowns, grimaces, smirks, and almost laughs all at the same time.

_I… can't believe this!_

"Okay, what if I can prove it to you?" he asks, running to catch up.

"Huh? Prove what," Emiya says, not even glancing down.

Taiasu places himself in front of the kid and continues walking backward while facing him. "Prove one thing I said. Come on, is this really the weirdest thing that's happened to you today?"

"No, but it's quickly becoming the most annoying…" Emiya says as he sighs. "But sure, I'll bite. Why not? It's not like it's slowing me down."

"Okay, fine. We can walk while we talk," he says, grinning.

* * *

The two of them are approaching the intersection that splits off toward the Ryuudou Temple as Emiya walks home with an endlessly yammering, diminutive ninja cosplayer adhered firmly to his wake.

"So which one?" Taiasu asks.

"Which one, what," Emiya says flatly.

"Which one do you want me to prove?"

Emiya rubs his face, distorting his features. "Um… I don't care, pick one…"

"Hm… Okay, I got an easy one, then. You know the old guy I told you about?" Taiasu says, grinning.

"The guy who told you to 'follow the red-head'?"

"Yeah, that's the one." He fusses with the pouch at his waist and sifts through after getting it open.

Emiya yawns again. "Okay… what about him… Seriously, couldn't you have found someone else with red hair to bother?"

Taiasu stares into the pouch for a few seconds before fishing up one of the less distinct stones.

"This!" He holds one up triumphantly before cinching the pouch closed. "Oh, and you were the first person I saw with red hair. Someone else I saw my second day here had red hair too, I thought. But then when I got a closer look—"

Emiya lacks the energy to stop this meandering rambling, so he tunes it out until a small, soft glowing, off-white colored object enters his field of view.

"—and Tohsaka said her name was 'Ayako', but I should call her 'Mitsuzuri' if I ever meet her. Anyway, this!" he says again.

"Okay… so it's a rock… What about it…?" the kid says, a little less disinterested, but undeterred from his grueling slog home.

"What the guy called it. He said it was a 'Soulanchor Stone'." Taiasu says, still trying to keep it centered in Emiya's field of view.

"Kid… I'm not gonna lie…" He stifles another yawn. "I'm so exhausted after almost getting murdered today that all I want to do is go home and sleep, so for right now, I'll believe everything you say if it just gets you to stop talking for at least thirty seconds."

Taiasu's eyes narrow. "Hey, you can't just believe what I said just because it's convenient! Believe it because you actually believe it!"

He sighs again. "Okay, but you can't actually _prove_ any of what you said, can you?"

"If you'd been listening, I… gh… Fine, you want proof?" Taiasu frowns, putting the stone back in the pouch and securing it closed.

He closes his eyes to focus as he pulls out six distinct shards, and the color from them drains and vanishes, after which he returns them to his pack.

_Got a good idea how much I gained from that. This will be a good chance to test just what I can do on a charge of shards, anyroad._

He smirks as his eyes narrow further.

"Pick something you want blown up."

* * *

A few seconds later, a now thoroughly awake Emiya is staring wide-eyed and slack-jawed in disbelief at a fireball that used to be a small tree by the entrance to the Ryuudou temple path. He had selected it, believing nothing would come of it, and that the kid would finally stop following him after having failed to prove anything.

A violent, purple crash of lightning falling from the sky obliterated said tree, along with every hope he had that this child might finally leave him alone. He'd needed to shield his face from the light and the shockwave after the kid had done what looked like some sort of new-age hands-only interpretive dance and then yelled something about 'NO RATS ON JET SKIS'.

Taiasu keeps his eyes closed for a few seconds, trying to gauge exactly how much aether that little stunt had cost him.

_… More than I'd have liked… I'd say… ten shard-infusions worth? So crystals are worth two-and-a-half Raiton…_

"That… that… that… that… that…" Emiya remains stuck in a loop.

Taiasu opens his eyes after taking careful consideration of the cost and making a few mental notes.

"Ninjutsu," he says, flatly.

"Then.. then… then… then… then…"

Taiasu sighs.

_He's at least moved to another word._

"Yes. Everything I told you is true. The old man, the stones, Hydaelyn, his asking me to come here, trying to keep a low profile, although I think I'm well beyond that forever, and his suggestion that I 'follow the red-head', whom I am almost certain he meant to be _you._ Though how he knew any of that is beyond me. Might have something to do with his whole 'being from another world' business…" he says, less annoyed for now having Emiya's undivided attention.

"No.. no… not.. not… you… you… you're… you're…"

"Huh? I'm what?" Taiasu turns his head and looks at Emiya, who is now staring at him.

"You… you're a magus…?" He finally speaks a complete sentence.

The small man frowns. "No, I'm a _Ninja_. Well, I'm a Ninja right now, anyway."

He says something so absurd that Emiya has to stifle a disbelieving laugh. "No… no way… Ninjas aren't a thing, that's just cosplay. I mean, if you want to be a cosplaying magus, that's your business, but I'd never even seen that sort of magic before. That was… incredible…" he says, staring in awe at the now smoking hole where an innocent tree used to be.

Taiasu frowns, kneading his forehead. "Gh… I'm not a magus."

_Oh… oh gods…_

His eyes go full-wide as a lightbulb goes off.

_Oh, no… This must be what it's like for Tohsaka when she has to talk to me…_

"I'll have to make the poor girl some Rolanberry Cheesecake… if I can find some acceptable ingredients." He mumbles to himself while Emiya continues to look between him and the still-smoking hole in the ground.

* * *

Emiya finally overcomes his shock and awe and resumes his trip home, and Taiasu remains firmly affixed to his wake.

"So is there anything else you don't believe?" he asks.

"Well… I don't know if I believe any of it, to be honest…" Emiya scratches his head, trying to figure out where the hell to even start. "I don't really even understand any of it. So some guy you call 'old man', who's not really an old man, but acts and feels like an old man, gave you a bag of rocks and said he was sending you to Earth? And all he said is that it was 'far away'?"

Taiasu nods.

"But you didn't know it was another… planet… he was sending you to?" Emiya smirks at the thought.

He shakes his head. "Hydaelyn is big. I don't know all of it, so I just thought it might be some other ill-explored continent or something. Then when I met that girl in purple, she helped me understand." His non sequitur is mercifully short.

"Okay… so why… did you accept his request?" Emiya asks, sincerely curious.

"Well… I mean, the old man had a point when he said it's what adventurers—oh, I'm an adventurer by the way. We go places, and meet new people, and help where we can, and occasionally have to fight things. Like this one time, I went to this place in the far east—"

Emiya's eyes glaze over as he continues the grind home, from which they are now only a few mercifully short blocks away.

* * *

"—And then I met this cool race of turtle people called the Kojin, who showed me this neat ritual, and now I can breathe underwater!" Taiasu finishes talking just as they reach the door for Emiya's place.

"Huh? Oh, we're back at your place now." Having been so lost in his story about his time in Hingashi, Taiasu had neglected his surroundings.

"Yep… Have to say, it definitely _sounds_ like you're from another planet…" Emiya says, fussing with the lock and getting the door open.

"That's because I am," he says.

"Anyway, nice meeting you, Mr. Off-Worlder. Have fun on your way home. Try not to blow up any more trees." Emiya says, closing the door behind him.

"Huh…? Hey, wai—!"

"Jeez, I knew a magus could be eccentric, but that guy was on a completely different level…" Emiya mutters, exasperated, yet safe behind closed doors.

* * *

Taiasu stands in front of the now-closed door to the Emiya residence, utterly nonplussed.

"What…?" He continues staring in disbelief at the door. "He… did he not even… even after the tree?"

It takes a full 30 seconds before his brain finally re-engages.

_Okay… so he clearly doesn't want me… going into his house…_

Taiasu wanders around the outer wall and plops down on the ground in front of it, puzzling out what to do next.

"I mean, that's fair. It makes sense. To him I'm just some weird, yammering 'magus' regardless of what I showed him. I know that I probably wouldn't let me in either if all I had to go on was that I could blow up trees with bolts of lightning…" he murmurs softly to himself. "I mean, I can certainly see it… If I heard everything I said, I'd think I was nuts too, and I'm living it… Did I just blow my only shot? Wait, what even was the point of following—"

The image of Emiya, motionless on the ground, flashes through his mind and struggles to repress his visceral, emotional reaction to it.

"Ngh… right… That's why… But the guy experienced that, and he still didn't care… What can I do? I mean, I didn't explicitly offer to help him, but there wasn't really an opportunity… or maybe I was just so busy rambling I neglected to see it?" He frowns.

"Alright… so now what, stupid… I mean, I can go back to Tohsaka's, she'd probably… No… I need to stay here, at least… but why though… I mean, he's out of danger now that he's home right? That blue guy… Lancer, he thinks he's dead, right? Wait… what if he figures out he's not… Would he come… back…?"

His skin goes cold at the thought.

_If he does come back… No one would be here except for me and the kid. Would I even be able to take him?_

Taiasu lies on his back, staring at the night sky.

"I did okay at the start… but I burned through my aether so quick I couldn't do anything. How much would I need? I consumed ten full clusters worth and I still feel like I could consume the entire lot of 'em… Maybe I should?"

He rolls over onto his stomach and stares at the wall.

"No… That would be dangerous. But I have plenty… And it's not like I can't just hold on to the aether after I consume it." He sits back up. "How many would be enough for me to stand a chance… Crystal-infusions are good for two-and-a-half blasts, but it's no good… I was only fighting the guy for a few minutes, and I only used two ninjutsu… and my escape. Everything else was just me trying to cut him… What was it, two minutes? Three?"

Taiasu curls into a ball and presses his head into his knees.

"So that was two clusters… One the day before, and one this morning… and it kept me going full boar for three minutes… Maybe five if I'd only been engaging in melee… Wait… Melee…"

A gradual smile creeps across his face as he brings out crystal after crystal.

* * *

Taiasu perches on the wall, keeping a silent vigil, donned in his bright red leather armor.

_With the twenty I took, that makes a hundred… Fifty clusters worth. I still don't feel… full. Don't even imagine I could in this world, but hopefully it's enough. I should be able to go all out for ten minutes if I need to._

He sighs heavily.

"But will that even be enough? Sure, I can just fight him, but can I win? Do I just keep waiting, hoping he _doesn't_ show up? I mean, even if he does, what can I do…? I don't have any way to contact Tohsaka… I'm all alone here…! I wasn't even a match for him during our last fight. What the hells hope do I have this time…?"

He can feel his heart pound and his breathing becoming shallow.

"Especially after I have a better idea of what it is he's capable, right? I saw what he did… There's no _way_ I can match that… But the only alternative is to run away and let the kid get murdered… I mean, only if the guy shows… Oh… gods… damn… everything… everywhere."

Taiasu's anxiety-filled musings are cut short. His eyes trace to the man in blue, leaping and crossing the roof-tops of various houses on his approach, and he feels his blood run cold. He swallows hard as the man with the lance lands on the roof of Emiya's house.

"I can't just… do nothing…"

He swallows again, feeling his mouth running dry, and his throat about to close.

Closing his eyes, he takes in a deep breath, and the man's words come back to him.

_Steel your resolve, young man. Nothing I told you is a lie._

_You're more than skilled enough for any of the challenges that await you._

_It's what you do, isn't it?_

_Hero?_

"D-damn you, old man…"

His brow lowers before furrowing inward to a point as his eyes narrow sharply. He clenches his hands into tight fists and his eyes slide closed as his head tilts backward, casting his unseeing gaze to the sky as he tightly clenches his teeth, and his worried frown forges into a determined smirk.

_If you're wrong, I'm gonna come back and haunt you 'til the day you die…_


	21. Regal Jade

Lancer looks down at the roof on which he now stands.

"Stupid kid… Should have stayed dead." He frowns. "Stupid Master, stupid orders, stupid…?"

Lancer stops griping, and his gaze drifts up to the person now in front of him.

"Huh? Who the hell are…?" His brow half-arches. "Twice in one night…? And what's with the outfit, huh?"

Taiasu stands before Lancer, replete in his red leather armor, boots and pants, mantle and cape. He reaches under the mantle and lifts it over his head, tossing it to the ground behind him. Whatever his anxiety had been has melted, or been forced into the back of his mind. His expression is… oddly calm.

Serene, even, and he offers no response.

"Eh…? Just gonna stand there?" Lancer says, tilting his head. "Nothing to say? No last words? Nothing you want me to carve into your head-stone?"

Taiasu remains as silent as Archer had when Lancer had stood against him just a few hours prior.

"Hey, kid? Earth to… whatever the hell I'm supposed to be calling you?" Lancer speaks with a distinct lack of patience, yet remains polite enough to continue the conversation. "First move's yours? Unless you just want me to pin you to the roof?"

Taiasu gives no heed to Lancer's goading. Using an old set of skills isn't the same as riding a bike. It takes a bit of time to bring oneself into the proper mindset. And he remembers what had happened when Archer had rushed in.

"No, I'll let you have the first move, I think. After all, I took the first during our last encounter, yes?" Taiasu says coolly.

Lancer grits his teeth. "Heh, fine. Don't regret it, you stupid **_POTATO!"_**

He surges forward, leaving his words and an azure streak in his wake.

Some time had passed since Taiasu last employed this discipline. It feels like slipping his hands into a worn, yet comfortable pair of familiar gloves. Calmness has served as his ally in what would be his first actual battle since arriving on Earth. Lancer's reckless forward charge made it simple to evade the coming attack, and Taiasu merely steps to the side.

It's hard for him not to smirk as he watches the man in blue launch himself from the roof to the ground below.

* * *

Monks have a lot to their kit. Besides their bread and butter of punching and kicking, amongst other flashier talents, was their skill in bending aether, within and without, to their will to augment their capabilities in battle. This aethereal manipulation had limitations. It could afford only one benefit at a time. The focus required to maintain it, and the complex nature of the process made anything more impossible.

Especially when engaging in combat.

* * *

Lancer leaps back onto the roof with a positively venomous look in his eyes, and Taiasu lunges backward to grant himself some distance for whatever comes next.

* * *

Kongou no Kamae, or as some called it, 'Adamantine Stance', would meld aether as a sort of second armor, reducing the damage a monk suffered from the slings and stones, or in this case, lances, of their foe.

Not worth considering. Any hit from Lancer was a swift death, and ten percent less than dead is still very, very, very, _very_ dead.

Shippū no Kamae, also known as 'Swift Wind Stance', would enhance one's movement to a degree.

Not worth considering. He's plenty fast enough already.

* * *

Lancer catapults himself into the air, preparing to bring his weapon down upon, and through Taiasu's diminutive frame. This attack is also being telegraphed fairly obviously. Just from a different direction.

Taiasu smirks.

_He'd make a good Dragoon, I think…_

He takes a small hop back, careful to watch his footing to avoid a repeat of the previous night. It's not a forty story drop from Emiya's roof to his yard, but it's still not a distraction he needs.

* * *

Guren no Kamae, 'Crimson Lotus Stance', would draw aether into the extremities. Arms, legs, hands, feet, and shoulders, to enhance the striking force of any attack delivered while under its care.

* * *

Lancer smirks as Taiasu takes his small retreat. "Stupid, you think I can't hit you there!?"

As he descends, Lancer switches from a piercing blow to swinging his weapon down over his head. Taiasu waits and watches as the attack comes down to see where it will land.

Adrenaline, focus, a monk's natural celerity for which they were so well known, or something else entirely. It was impossible to know, but it feels like everything is moving in slow motion. Well, slow motion relative to how fast things are _actually_ happening, anyway.

But it's the perception that matters, and how fast he can react to what his senses are telling him. Right now, those senses tell him he has about two seconds since Lancer had entered so high into the air.

As he activates the Guren no Kame, four red spheres of light encircle him and then erupt, scattering aether like falling cherry blossom petals which descend slowly to the roof before fading. Lancer's eyes go half-wide for a moment, but he continues the downward swing of his weapon.

Taiasu's eyes are now telling him to move to the side, unless he wants to know what it would feel like to get hit by Lancer's weapon from the side instead of the front. He takes a swift lunge to the side as Lancer's attack comes crashing through the roof.

_Oh, damn… I didn't consider the stage…_

* * *

Emiya had some warning before his two uninvited guests had installed a new, and very much unwanted, skylight into his residence. He was a magus after all, even if not a very skilled one, and a boundary field usually protects the house of any magus.

His was merely an early warning system, so as he sat trying to figure out what his life had become, the sound like a rattle shook him from his fugue. The sound that occurred when anyone uninvited breached the boundary field.

That was how it usually worked, anyway.

He'd had time to grab a rolled up poster. Not useful for much beyond showing one's interests to prospective dates in most cases, in the hands of Emiya, this could serve as a much needed tool for survival.

As he'd gripped it, he'd activated his magic circuit and reinforced the poster with magical energy, transforming that flimsy tube of paper into something as hard as steel. And as hard as steel it would stay, for as long as the magical energy remained within it.

His ears catch the sound of muffled voices coming from above, followed by a loud shout and the sound of footsteps pounding across his roof.

_Yeah, come on… I'm ready for you._

A loud thump causes him to twitch and grip the roll of paper in his hands more tightly as a few drops of sweat run down the sides of his face. Another loud banging sound comes from above.

"What the f—!?"

His perturbed utterance is cut off by the roof above his living area caving in. Unfortunately for Emiya, while he had been expecting company thanks to his early warning system, he was not expecting that company to come crashing through his entire roof, leaving him a wonderful, if unasked for, view of the beautiful night sky.

As he looks into the cloud of dust in the center of his once pristine living area, he can see a tall man in blue, contrasted by his red lance, and a small man in red moving about. The man in blue repeatedly tries to impale the small man in red with his lance, but for all of his effort, the man in red seems able to read his every move. Each attack comes within a hair's breadth, but the breadth of that hair is enough to allow the small man a single step closer each time.

* * *

Falling through the roof was not part of the plan, and Taiasu had moments to react before Lancer was again trying to pierce him like something he wanted to add to a butterfly collection.

Lancer thrusts his weapon forward again, and Taiasu moves to the side, and then under as he swings it horizontally.

"Stand _STILL!"_

Taiasu smirks.

_Archer said the same thing._

"What's wrong? You keep backing up, are you really that scared? Look, I don't even have a _WEAPON!"_

Taiasu's wake becomes a crimson blur of himself as he crosses the short distance between them instantly. He closes the last of the gap by hurling himself into the air and slamming his shoulder into Lancer's chest, knocking him through the wall and onto his back in the yard.

He glances to his left and see's Emiya standing there, jaw on the floor, eyes like plates, roll of paper in hand.

His head tilts slightly on seeing the roll of paper. "Sorry about the um… renovations," he says before rushing through the new door in the wall.

The only sound is that of a stiff breeze and the roll of paper in his hands clanking as it falls from the boy's hand to the floor in front of him.

_What the hell has happened to my life…_

* * *

Taiasu sprints at full speed as Lancer lifts his legs over his head and rights himself. He instantly surges forward, leaving a trail of blue in his wake as he again thrusts his lance forward.

Each time, Taiasu dodges with little room to spare, and continues to close the distance. Outside of the enclosed space, Lancer's attacks become that hurricane Taiasu had seen on the schoolyard.

_Strange… It seemed much faster there. Did my body learn it just from watching?_

Each drop of rain leaves Taiasu dry as he weaves between them, pressing forward into Lancer's furious back stepping assault.

_Or maybe it's because I have enough aether this time… Or maybe it's both._

Whatever the case, Taiasu is quickly getting swept up in the thrill of battle, and his face becomes painted with an eager grin.

* * *

_What the hell is this!_

Lancer takes a few more steps back as the small man he's just spent the better part of two minutes trying to skewer continues to press forward against all common sense.

_It's the same guy, but why is he so much faster now…?! Why can't I hit him?!_

Lancer leaps back and then charges forward, waiting for the last second when he knows the little man won't be able to evade.

"GOT YOU, YOU…!?"

His lance plunges forward like lightning, and then his eyes bulge.

Taiasu had seen it coming. It's fast, but still telegraphed, and everything is a perfect storm now. A monk's honed celerity, his own alacrity, his body remembering Lancer's battle style from seeing him fight and from already having fought him, and his current glut of aether; everything is tilted in his favor for the moment.

The spear thrust comes straight, and he jumps and balances himself on the shaft.

He takes a fraction of a second to smirk.

_Perfect._

He closes the distance between the tip of the lance and the one holding it with the rest of that second.

Lancer turns his head as he watches the man glide down his weapon, unsure how to even react.

_Wait, what do I care, he doesn't even have a—!_

It all happens in less than a second from the time Lancer had thrust his weapon out, providing the perfect platform across which Taiasu could travel.

Once in range, he unleashes the Tōkon Senpū Ashi, delivering a series of powerful blows, starting first with a spinning backhand, then a roundhouse, and ending with a reverse flip-kick. Each lands squarely against Lancer's chest and head, and the final sends him flying backward into the wall running the border of the yard.

The release of a violent flash of aether punctuates each hit, and the last explodes in a devastating whirlwind.

Emiya stares as the small man runs across the lance and then performs something he could only say came straight from a cheap martial arts flick. The entire thing was straight out of a movie.

The man had thrust his spear out at the last possible second, but instead of being skewered, the smaller man had simply hopped over it, allowing it to pass under him. He then landed on it, charged forward, and with two spinning strikes and a back flip that should have taken years or decades to figure out how to do right, launched the man like a blue comet into the wall surrounding his house.

_I don't think my homeowner's insurance will cover this…_

On landing, Taiasu surges forward again and slams his shoulder into Lancer's chest, pinning him against the wall and continuing his offensive.

The most basic of unarmed striking techniques was the Rengeki. A swift sequential series of three strikes, punctuated by a powerful fourth. The more a person used such a skill, the more it just came naturally, and this was one of those times.

Lancer sees the red blur and raises his arms to guard as the three strikes land with devastating force. Then the fourth breaks his guard, and he's forced to roll to the side. As he does, he spins and swings his lance.

Too high, and it sails over Taiasu's head as he refuses to allow any distance between them.

Soushouda was a more advanced strike delivered with both hands simultaneously. Being struck by this attack would also leave one vulnerable to subsequent attacks for a short time by weakening the defenses of the recipient, and it was a natural followup to the Rengeki.

With the polearm still passing over his head, Taiasu jumps to close the distance and slams both of his palms into Lancer's stomach, sending him stumbling backward and gasping for breath.

_This… isn't happening!_

The past several seconds have shattered Lancer's cool demeanor like so much fragile porcelain. As he has some distance now, he attempts to land another skewering attack, which passes through not but a red blur. He takes a few more steps back and whirls his weapon in front of him to create an impassable barrier.

The small man makes his way to the right, but Lancer keeps the spear between the two of them as a small trail of blood from his mouth, from the first hit he'd received, falls to the ground.

 _What the hell is going on here… Who the hell is this guy!? He's not Assassin, he's not Saber, that_ _other guy was Archer, he can't be Caster, which is just fucking OBVIOUS…!_

Lancer continues to keep his whirling barrier between himself and this now genuine threat.

Taiasu smirks. "So, what? You're just going to stay there and keep spinning your pretty stick like a baton?"

_He's playing defensively… I should feel flattered, but really it's just irritating._

Lancer's eyes narrow to slits as he takes a few more steps back.

Taiasu proceeds forward an equal distance. "Or did you want to have a conversation? I mean, I enjoy making friends, but in your case, I still haven't forgotten what you tried to do to Tohsaka. But maybe if you explain it, I'll listen for a few seconds before I pound on you some more."

_I may just need to take a hit to keep this going…_

Lancer scowls, still spinning his weapon. "Sure, let's talk. Why don't we start with you telling me who or what the hell Servant you are?"

Taiasu frowns. "You know, that's pretty played out. The young girl in purple, Tohsaka, and now you." His brow furrows. "Twice. And all I know about that in this context is that they're basically just super-strong Hyur."

Lancer's right brow goes full-arch. "What… the hell is a Hyur?"

"Oh… Well, I guess they wouldn't have them here…" Taiasu says, smirking. "Well, you. You're a Hyur, basically."

"Fine, whatever. It doesn't sound like an…?" Lancer's gaze shifts from Taiasu back to Emiya, who stands in his yard, frozen, watching, and mourning for his destroyed house.

_Stupid master's stupid orders…_

Lancer's Master's orders leave an unpleasant taste in his mouth. But even he has to obey, regardless of how much they sicken him. Seeing Emiya reminds him of the entire reason he's here, and what it is he has to do in order to get this stupid monkey off his back.

_Killing women and children… What the hell did I ever do to deserve this kind of…_

His casual expression casts into a venomous scowl as he glances back at the small man who continues to keep the distance between them as short as possible.

_So there's a lot more to this guy… He's unarmed, but that doesn't make him harmless. Somehow he can read me… Must be because he saw me fight, and I can't parry him because he's not using a weapon…_

Lancer's eyes go full-wide again and his scowl deepens.

"The hell, I'm doing that, you bastard…!" Lancer yells at someone neither Taiasu nor Emiya can see as he grinds his teeth. "If you want me to do that, you'll be burning every command spell you have, you got me!?"

"Hah?" Taiasu stares at him, head tilted and brow arched. "Talking to yourself…?"

Lancer spits. "No, it's my Master. He's telling me to use the kid as a shield, and I'm telling him where he can shove his stupid orders."

Taiasu's eyes go hard-wide as he glances to his right and can see Emiya standing there frozen in place. Lancer shakes his head.

"No. This comes first. Once I've dealt with you, I'll handle the witness."

Taiasu's eyes go back to normal as he smiles.

"You know… if you talk like that, and if you hadn't tried to kill Tohsaka, we might have been friends."

Lancer smirks. "Yeah, well… killing kids was—" His eyebrows drop. "Wait, why the hell am I still even talking to you?" His smirk fades into a fresh scowl.

"Fair question. But if all you're going to do is spin that stupid stick, I guess…"

Taiasu takes another few steps forward, and Lancer's brow arches again.

* * *

Kongou no Gokui; Adamantine Secret. A weaker version of the Kamae, it affords a momentary protection against attacks. Though the afforded benefits are brief, said benefit can be called upon alongside the Kamae to allow for a more balanced approach to fighting.

* * *

_Still, this is gonna hurt…!_

Taiasu performs the Kongou no Gokui as he charges Lancer's defensive wall, and a bright amber light radiates outward from his form. As he lunges forward, the spinning defensive wall strikes him and the Gokui bristles against it. Though the damage is less than it would have been, it's not insignificant. And neither is the fact that it comes with a force equivalent to a sledgehammer which sends him flying into Emiya's somehow still standing house.

Lancer's wall slows to a stop as he stares blankly. "What… the hell…?"

If he had the time and presence of mind, Taiasu would have been palming his face with both hands.

_Damn it… I hadn't considered… the knock-back…_

He remains a few meters above the ground, stuck to the outer wall of Emiya's rapidly deteriorating residence before he falls to the ground with a demeaning grunt.

"Yeah, that was dumb…" he mutters as he stands up, shaking his head. "Not my proudest…!"

The flash of blue is telling and as he looks up, he can see Lancer's icy stare as he thrusts his weapon forward. Another flash of red is more telling, but it's not the red of Lancer's weapon. The sound of steel slicing air cuts through the night and Taiasu's eyes, having closed on reflex, snap open once more.

His stare traces to the flowing red waist-cape of a familiar figure standing over him. Lancer lands from the backward lunge he had executed to avoid the attack, and the soft grass and dirt of the yard near the shed muffles his landing. He wipes the trail of dried blood from his mouth, a gift given by Taiasu a few minutes prior, glaring between the new, yet familiar face, and that of the small man who is still on the ground and trying to piece everything together.

Lancer's weapon was there. It wasn't anymore, but Taiasu could remember the feel of it pressing into his neck. A trickle of blood runs down his throat, coming from where the tip of that lance had been breaking through the skin. Before Lancer could finish the job, Archer's antithetical twin mirror-blades bearing down on him had forced him to abandon the execution and withdraw, or risk placing himself at a perilous disadvantage.

Taiasu's head turns to look behind him, and his gaze rises to the hole he had put in Emiya's house, near which still stands the boy, and Rin Tohsaka approaching from behind, the former having yet to notice the latter. The damage to the house is extensive, and where their fight had taken them into the wall surrounding the residence, Taiasu can see said wall nearing total collapse.

He rubs his throat. Feeling that the very minor, yet near fatal injury has already closed up evokes from him a relieved sigh, and he slides against the wall still at his back for just a moment before standing and brushing off his backside.

Archer scoffs in his practiced condescending tone. "Didn't I tell you to leave this to the adults?"

Taiasu frowns. "… What are you doing here?"

"Saving your life, apparently. And you're welcome, by the way."

He gets ready to yell something, but stops as his gaze drops.

"… You're right. Sorry. And thanks…" he mutters.

Archer sighs. "You know, you suck all the fun out of it when you act all contrite like…?" He glances down and sees Taiasu wincing and gripping his head above his right eye.

"Hey… what's…"

The white of the Echo's resonance overtakes Archer's words.

* * *

It's the same level of intensity as the previous two, though there's little to even see.

The landscape is in ruins. The overcast sky diffuses what little light there is to illuminate the endless field of desolation.

_What happened here…_

Countless buildings lie fallow and decaying, their contents strewn about in an infinite field of debris, and it would be in vain to try counting how many there even were to begin with in what must have formerly been a bulwark of civilization.

A few buildings remain standing, uninhabitable for their shattered windows and doors ripped from their frames. A completely barren, war torn urban wasteland, where life is no longer possible.

The vision fades before Taiasu can gain any understanding, but the Echo yields not.

A voice sounds in the dark.

"Let me make a contract with you. I shall give you my life after my death. I would like the compensation now."

_… Contract? That voice… I know that voice._

* * *

"Archer! Disappear!"

As Taiasu comes back from the vision, the first thing he hears is Tohsaka's desperate command to Archer. The first thing he sees is Archer on his knees, a shard of dissipating silver light buried in his back, and Lancer standing before him with his weapon driven through his chest. The next thing he sees is Archer's form quickly fade and vanish.

Lancer spits. "Fine. One down… Next…" He turns his piercing gaze to Taiasu.

"Dunno what that business with that light was, but I'm fine with it. All I need to do is deal with you, right? Then I can be finished with this distasteful—!"

Taiasu doesn't let him finish.

The resonance had been brief. That fact combined with the still fresh high of battle, and Archer's maimed and fading form providing the impetus to act negates any need for head shaking or breath catching. Taiasu's wake is a crimson blur. Again, his feet propel him from the ground, and before Lancer finishes speaking, Taiasu's has his shoulder buried deep into his chest, forcing him backward.

"Shut up and fight," he growls.

This was the second time in which Tohsaka had seen her diminutive associate attack Lancer. She shakes her head slowly.

_Last time was like watching an animal, but this time… There's a will behind it._

She watches as Taiasu and Lancer engage in a deadly dance, Lancer's spear thrusts continuing to strike nothing but a crimson shadow, and Taiasu continues raining blow after blow in response.

Lancer struggles to gain distance. Each time he steps back, his adversary takes three steps forward to bring that distance to zero. Lancer lunges back, and Taiasu leaps forward, twisting to evade the coming thrust.

Tohsaka's eyes grow wide.

_Of course… That weapon might be good for fending, but once he's in range, it becomes a chore to land a serious hit. And he's so small, it's like what Archer said… A kewpie doll on a pogo stick…_

Lancer attempts another sweeping strike, and his weapon again passes through a red blur. The blur fades and as the clouds part exposing the moon, a passing shadow causes him to glance up in time to catch two small feet landing squarely in his face.

Taiasu kicks off said face, gaining modest air as a soft blue light emanates from his form, illuminating the surrounding darkness. He cups his hands and directs both palms toward Lancer. The light surrounding him coalesces into his palms.

**_"Aokihō!"_ **

With a feral howl, he invokes the technique and the sphere of light in his palm swells and surges forward, striking the ground at Lancer's feet, scorching him and everything else for about five meters in every direction. Their fight has taken them into the center of the yard, so the only victims besides Lancer were a few unfortunate blades of grass. The technique leaves Lancer disoriented long enough for Taiasu to reach the ground and get into position for an effective continuation.

He kicks from the ground to gain the air needed to guarantee a decisive strike and lands the Rokugō Hoshi Shirube Ashi; powerful triple-kick, each emphasized by a brilliant flash of aether-infused light with the final sending a streak of light several meters into the night sky.

Each strike finds devastating purchase, burying deep into Lancer's chest, and the final finds him sailing through the air onto his back, with a notable quantity of blood spraying from his mouth along with the air forced from his lungs.

Tohsaka and Emiya stand side by side, watching the absurd battle play out. Lancer's attempt to swat Taiasu away had granted the small man an aerial advantage, which he used to plant a double-kick deep into his face. He'd followed up with what Emiya swears was a Kamehameha and then sent Lancer sailing into the air with three swift and evidently powerful kicks to the chest.

_… Is this… Is this anime?_

Tohsaka turns and shoves Emiya to snap him out of it. "We need to get you out of here," she says as the sounds of battle continue to rage from the yard.

Lancer is back on his feet and again on the offensive, having finally gained some distance and choosing to use it to fend Taiasu off. His defensive offensive is finding success this time. The hair's breadth is no longer enough, as the lance grazes Taiasu a few times, lacerating flesh, drawing blood, and glancing off armor.

Tohsaka swallows hard.

_This… it's like on the school roof again. What did he say? Something about those stones and aether…? How long has he been at this? How long can he keep going?_

She grabs Emiya's hand and jerks his arm, preparing to drag him along, if needed. As his hand passes in front of her, she stops and her eyes widen.

_No way… No way, no way…_

She stares at the back of the hand, at the strange, yet incomplete marking adorning it. Her aggressive palming of her face distorts her features.

_He's a Master… Emiya-kun is a magus, and a Master… Archer's going to laugh at me…_

"Change of plans, Emiya-kun."

Finally, the kid glances at his hand, then to the one holding it, and his mouth goes slack.

"Huh…? Tohsaka, when did you…? No, wait before that why are you here?"

She grits her teeth and drops his hand. "Never mind that for right now. The short of it is, that guy is going to die unless we help him, and for that I need you to listen to me and do exactly what I say, understand?"

Emiya goes to shake his head, but Tohsaka grabs his face and forces a nod from him.

"Good, glad we understand one another," she says with a hard smirk and an eye twitch.

* * *

_He's getting faster…_

Taiasu twists his torso at his waist, and Lancer's spear-thrust narrowly misses his shoulder. The attack shifts into a swipe, forcing him to duck, and mid-swipe Lancer brings it down, forcing Taiasu to guard. Each change in direction comes with a cost of force, so blocking the attack with his forearms causes only moderate damage.

 _Or I'm reaching my limit… I need to end this soon, or he's going to end it for the both of us…_ _I need to get in range again… How am I going to end this though? I've hit him so many times, but none of it was enough…!_

He lunges backward, and Lancer surges, leaving another azure streak in his wake.

* * *

"Where do you do your practice?" Tohsaka yells, centimeters away from Emiya's face, which becomes tinged with red.

"Hah? Practice?"

"Yes, you're a magus, so you have to have some place where you train, right? Where?!"

Emiya's eyes widen. "Wait… how do you know about—!"

She clenches her teeth and grinds her knuckles into his temples.

"I'll answer every stupid question you have later, if we survive this, now tell me!"

"Ow, ow! Stop! The shed, alright! The shed!"

She seizes him by the arm and he frowns.

_That's not the same girl from school…_

"Taiasu! Get him away from the shed, if you can!" she yells.

He glances at her with his brow half-arched as she pulls the kid across the yard.

_What's she thinking? She should have gotten him out of here by now!_

His eyes catch her glare and he has only enough time for a curt nod.

_Whatever she's doing, I'll have to trust her with it. I can't do much else right now…!_

He lunges backward again, placing himself outside of Lancer's striking distance, and again to lead him away from the shed.

Tohsaka kicks in the door and throws Emiya to the ground inside his workspace, scattering a few of the miscellany on the ground as he goes. Her eyes narrow as she glares at the kid on the ground whose wide eyes are growing wider.

"Alright… I need you to summon your Servant now, or that guy out there's going to die, and then we'll be on the short list of people who die next."

Emiya's head tilts. "Huh…? Servant?"

"Yes, your Servant! You're a Master, right? The thing on your hand is proof, so get them out here right now or we're all going to… die…?" Her voice lowers as she sees the boy's expression. "Oh, my god… You were selected… but you don't have a clue what I'm even saying, do you?"

He shakes his head slowly. "Not… one bit…"

She palms her face again and groans loudly. "Wonderful. Things keep getting better…?" Her shoulders slump and her gaze falls to the floor where something catches her attention.

Her eyes go full-wide as her brow arches.

"A… summoning circle…? Why would…! Never mind, it doesn't matter. It's good because we wouldn't have time to engrave one anyway… Seriously, why the hell would you have a summoning circle?"

Tohsaka reaches into her dress coat and brings out a handful of glittering gemstones.

_You owe me big time, shrimp._

* * *

_I guess that will have to be it…_ _I'll have to use the Tōkizan… This fight opened four. I'll open the fifth chakra myself._

Taiasu has opened a significant gap between himself and Lancer, and works to maintain that distance.

Lancer scoffs. "Wearing out, are you? Why don't you just lie down and make this easier for the both of us!"

A sullen smirk slides across the small man's face.

_Have to hand it to him, for all my effort he barely looks winded… Maybe I should have just eaten every single gods damned crystal. One way or the other, it ends with this._

Taiasu's muscles firm up as he uses his life sustaining aether to force open the fifth and final chakra necessary to perform the In'yō Tōkizan.

_It won't be enough alone. He soaked a full Rokugō. I'll have to push it further…_

As he opens the fifth chakra, a momentary flash of light envelops his form, and Lancer's eyes widen.

"Dunno what you're planning, but if you think I'm just gonna let you do it, you're…!"

_That's settled… Then the Guren no Gokui and the Tōen Yuigī… This is going to be my last shot. I can feel it. I've just about burned through everything…_

Lancer surges forward, trailing a blue blur. Taiasu watches his charge closely.

_He'll aim down… That will be the moment._

Aether forms around him like a blooming lotus. The petals scatter into the air and then fade as he activates the Guren no Gokui.

Like the Guren no Kamae, the Gokui uses one's aether to enhance striking power. While more than twice as effective as the former, the drawback is in the limited window of opportunity to make use of that enhanced striking force.

And then there's the cost. The Kamae draws little from one's aether once active, while the Gokui requires much more to activate. If the Kamae cost 'ten' to activate, and 'one' per minute to sustain, the Gokui required 'twenty-five' to open the window of opportunity. It also places a strain on the body, which is why a monk never uses it multiple times in quick succession.

Taiasu activates the Tōen Yuigī. As he does, aether flows from him, coalescing into a single glowing sphere like a star over his head, which then bursts outward in an empowering wave.

The Tōen Yuigī is less effective than the Kamae. Less effective by half. It's also burdensome in a manner similar to the Gokui in that it has a heavy aether cost and also places a strain on the body if used in quick succession.

The two techniques strain the body in different ways. The Gokui strains it physically, and the Yuigī strains it mentally. Traditionally, a monk uses the Yuigī in the company of others. The skill binds those affected, empowering them with its light, and feeding their will into his own, reducing the effort required to open the five chakras.

Though he can only benefit from the slight increase in power, every extra drop of power he can squeeze into this counts.

_Now or never…_

Lancer enters striking distance and plunges his weapon downward in a straight line. It's the only choice, given their height difference and the diminutive space his adversary occupies. The body is the largest target, inconsequential as it is, and it's the best chance.

"You can't dodge forever, you little…!"

Taiasu takes a half step back, and the spear continues on its downward path. Lancer makes to bring the tip up and follow through with his attack, but finds the weapon obstructed by a tiny foot. One which has landed on the head and forced it into the ground.

Taiasu smirks. "I know."

He hops into the brief opening. He doesn't gain significant air, but it's enough to put him within striking range of Lancer's chest. Right where he needs to be.

All five chakra within him close in an instant, transforming their accumulated aether into a powerful force for destruction. He emits another flash of light which gathers into his right fist. A light which glows like the sun, and burns with a similar intensity.

**_"IN'YŌ TŌKIZAN!"_ **

He roars the name as his fist slams into Lancer's chest. The tightly gripped luminescence erupts, exploding outward and upward, enveloping Lancer in a violent burst of light and fury. The explosion tears forward in a blast wave, forcing Lancer along with it, and the cacophony carries into the shed, reverberating around inside.

* * *

Around them, the shed rumbles as the sound of an explosion crashes through the air and a brief yet brilliant flash of light from the yard illuminates their surroundings.

_"For the ancestor, my great master, Kiritsugu."_

Emiya stands in the circle Tohsaka had discovered, and the gems she had pulled from her jacket somehow drip from his hand, pooling to the ground around his feet. As they touch the ground, the circle glows, and the intricate etchings of it become clear.

Tohsaka has spent what little time she feels they have teaching the boy the incantation needed to perform the summoning. She's primed her gems and placed them in his hand, and shoved him into the circle.

The rest is on him. If he fails, she's certain they would be next to taste the sharp end of Lancer's arm.

_"Close the gates of the cardinal directions. Come forth from the Crown, and follow the forked road leading to the kingdom."_

The boy's eyes remain closed as he recites the incantation. Though unsure of what is happening, the facts are obvious, and the dire nature of their circumstances is not outside of his grasp.

" _Fill, fill, fill, fill, fill. Repeat five times. But when each is filled, destroy it."_

Through his tightly shut eyelids, he can see the light in the circle intensify. A mix of vibrant silver, crimson and sapphire colors flood into his eyes.

_Whatever this is, it seems to be working… No, stupid, worry about that later. Focus on this now…_

_"Set. Heed my words. My will creates your body, and your sword creates my destiny. If you heed the Grail's call and obey my will and reason, then answer me. I hereby swear. That I shall be all the good in the world. That I shall defeat all the evil in the world. You seven heavens, clad in the three great words of power, come forth from the circle of binding…"_

Emiya's snap open.

_"Guardian of the Scales!"_

He completes the ritualistic chant Tohsaka had just moments before so fervently driven into his head. The light from the circle erupts outward, again illuminating their surroundings, and the force from it causes both Emiya and Tohsaka to stumble back from the circle. Tohsaka remains standing, but it forces Emiya to the floor of the shed.

_Wait… it worked? What did it do? What did I just do?_

* * *

The dust from the blast wave settles and the darkness of the night returns to the yard. The ground smolders where Lancer had been standing just moments before. Taiasu breathes heavily on his feet as his eyes scan the yard to find his quarry.

_Did it work…? Was it—!_

As his eyes fall upon the man in blue, his body is wracked by a familiar agony. Air is stripped from his lungs and his body screams as if having been cast into a vacuum. He collapses without a word.

_Damn it… I thought I'd at least be able to stand after…_

The sound of stumbling footsteps approaches and he has enough strength to turn his head. He can see the man in blue, smoke rising from his form as he stands over him, clutching a gaping, smoldering hole in his chest from which pours his red life blood onto the ground at his feet. His other hand holds his weapon in a determined grip.

"Not bad… kid… But it looks like…"

A hacking cough interrupts him and forces a spray of blood from his mouth onto the ground.

"Looks like you missed… the heart… Also looks like… you may have overplayed… your hand… Too bad… Well, this is the… end for you…"

He sneers viciously as he raises his weapon over his head.

Taiasu's eyes slide closed.

_Well, if it wasn't him, then it would be the lack of aether about to do it…_

"Servant Lancer!"

Somehow still conscious, Taiasu's eyes drift open, tracing a path toward the commanding voice that had just called out to the one about to end his life.

His gaze lands on her steel greaves, then passes to the ornate, azure dress, flanked on both sides by three overlapping steel armor plates. At her sides rest her hands, clad in heavy steel gauntlets that should be far too heavy for her soft frame. In her right hand she grips something invisible to his eyes. A heavy plate armor piece, one which pairs well with her greaves and gauntlets, and the plate armor affixed to her dress, protects her chest.

But more than anything, it's her eyes which steel his breath. A shining, beautiful green. Like well-polished jade stones.

A soft smile forms on his face.

_Well… if I have to die, at least I got to see something nice before…_


	22. Ctrl-Z

Lancer turns to gaze at the new player on the field, and his countenance drops to the ground.

“Oh, come on… This isn’t even remotely fair,” he groans, bringing his weapon down from above his head. Though the hole in his chest still smolders, the bleeding has subsided, and the severity has reduced notably.

The girl in the full plate accenting her deep blue dress stands gripping something invisible, casting her fierce glare at Lancer, who heaves a dejected sigh.

“Fine, I get it. I’m going…” he says, turning away. “So unless you’re going to kill me with my back turned, I think we’re finished here. My master is calling me back, anyway.” He laughs bitterly. “He sounds pretty pissed…”

The girl grits her teeth but says nothing as Lancer’s form goes from translucent to invisible.

Tohsaka steps out of the shed and spots the girl, whose grip relaxes as her arms fall to her sides. She glances from the girl to the house, which desperately needs a contractor, and her eyes widen as she continues to look around the yard.

“That was fast… Did you defeat Lancer already, Saber?” she asks.

The girl, Saber, shakes her head, the loose part of her blonde hair shifting slightly as she does. The rest remains secured to the back of her head in a tightly braided bun by a blue ribbon tied in a bow.

“He left on his own. I allowed it. It is improper to strike an opponent while their back is turned.”

Tohsaka’s mouth widens. “So you’re that sort of person…” She glances around some more and her eyes widen again. “Taiasu!”

She spots the small man and rushes toward him, kneeling down and shaking him. “Hey, what happened!? Are you alright?”

“Aether…” he mutters, his voice nearly inaudible.

Saber glances at him and her eyes narrow. “Is this your Servant, then?”

Tohsaka shakes her head. “He’s not a Servant… It’s a long story, Taiasu what do I do?”

“Sh… shards…” he mutters again.

“Shards? You still have some, right? How do I get them?”

He doesn’t answer, and his eyes cloud over as they slip shut.

She shakes him roughly. “Come on, short stack! I need your help if I’m going to help you!”

He gives no reply.

_What do I do? He’s gonna die if he doesn’t get any of that aether stuff, but I don’t have any—!_

Tohsaka’s eyes go full wide and her mouth drops. She reaches into her long dress coat and pulls from it the five crystal shards Taiasu had given her at her house after that business in the yard where she’d tested the potency of those crystals.

_Okay, all he did was hold them, right? So I just…_

Saber tilts her head, watching silently as Tohsaka shoves them into the palm of Taiasu’s limp hand, which lies motionless on the ground.

“Come on, stupid! You owe me for those jewels I had to use and I can’t collect if you’re dead!”

The stones in his hand keep their color and glow, and a couple fall to the ground.

“Come on, wake up! What am I gonna do if I lose out on those crystals you’re carrying around!!”

She grabs the couple of stones that tumbled to the ground and shoves them into his other hand.

“Didn’t… didn’t you have more stories you wanted to tell?! You can’t tell them if you’re…”

“D… did you… really want to… hear… them…?”

His words come slow and in fragments as the light from the shards dims and fade before winking out, and the small man’s eyes slowly drift open. He glances up at the girl to see her frowning as she hastily wipes her face.

“You idiot! Why was I even worried!?” She shoves him again, and the inert shards tumble from his palms.

“Tohsaka… You were worried… about me?” he says, sitting up slowly before drawing in a deep breath.

She shakes her head as she continues wiping her face. “N-no! Who said I was worried!?”

Taiasu takes in a few more breaths to steady himself.

“Sorry I worried you—!”

She shoves him over again. “I SAID I WASN’T WORRIED!!”

Tohsaka stops being not worried as Taiasu stands up and glances at the five spent shards scattered across the grass nearby.

“Where did you get those?”

Tohsaka quarter-leans her head. “What do you mean? Those were the ones you gave me, remember?”

“Gave you… Oh!” His eyes widen. “Right. I remember now… Good thing or I’d definitely be…” He sighs as he pulls a single red shard from his pack. The light in it dims and vanishes, and he tosses it to Tohsaka.

“Well, that’s one thing,” she says, catching it. “But there are still some things that need explaining…”

“Yeah, I’d say there’s a lot that needs explaining,” Emiya calls from the entrance of his shed as he steps out. “Like… everything?”

Taiasu sighs as he tosses the five scattered shards to Tohsaka one at a time.

_It’s going to be a long night._

* * *

The four of them stand in Emiya’s thoroughly decimated living area. Saber remains on guard near the gaping hole in the wall, while Tohsaka glances around, surveying the damage. Emiya’s arms hang limply at his sides as his gaze roves about his once pristine personal space.

Tohsaka sighs. “Sorry, Emiya-kun. Do you have someplace else we can…?”

Before she can finish making her inquiry, Taiasu is rifling through his pack. He brings out several small crystalline stones. Unlike the shards, crystals, and clusters, these have no glow of their own.

_I hope this works… I’d feel bad leaving things like this._

He holds them in his hand and closes his eyes. His brows draw inward and a soft glow encircles the stones in his hand, which dissolve into dust. The stone dust spreads and absorbs into the room, which emits a faint glow as the shattered wall, destroyed ceiling, and debris that used to make up said wall and ceiling reform.

By the time the soft light has faded, it’s impossible to tell that anything of note had happened here not fifteen minutes ago, as they find themselves in a perfectly restored modest Japanese style living area. A simple coffee table resting low to the ground, perfect for sitting at floor level, is the dominant feature. A short cabinet rests against the wall underneath a light switch. Upon the cabinet rests a vase filled with yellow flowers. The living area is carpeted with several sea-foam colored tatami mats. Adjacent, separated by an open half-wall, is a small kitchen complete with all the amenities a kitchen requires; sink, stove, cupboards, rack for hanging pots and pans, and a refrigerator.

Taiasu turns and glances up to see Saber’s guarded expression, Tohsaka regarding him curiously and Emiya staring slack-jawed and wide-eyed.

Then his vision blurs, and he falls hard on his backside.

_Damn… That was stupid…_

He brings out, divides, and drains six clusters, and before he’s even returned them to his pack, his vision becomes steady again.

“What… was that…?” Emiya asks, eyes still wide.

“Aether clusters. I need to do this occasionally,” Taiasu says, returning the last to his pack. “Though the frequency with which it’s becoming necessary is growing quite alarming.”

“No… I mean, okay, I guess I wondered about that too, but what was that with the wall and the roof?”

“Oh… That’s…” He sighs. “It will take a while to explain, so the shortest, most dumbed-down version is that artisans of sufficient skill on Hydaelyn can restore damaged goods to their original condition by using aether and dark matter as a catalyst.” He strokes his chin thoughtfully for a moment. “I wasn’t even sure it would work, but the more I learn, the less I think our worlds are so different. I expanded the concept to reverse the damage we did to your, er… house.”

Emiya nods along dumbly as he flips a switch on the wall, and the lights on the ceiling banish darkness of the restored room. “Well… at least those are still working.”

Tohsaka’s eyes widen. “You said you didn’t know magic.”

Taiasu shakes his head. “No, I said I never learned the magic disciplines. This isn’t really even something that could be… called… Tohsaka?”

“Yes, I follow. Go on.”

He shakes his head. “No… your coat…” he says, reaching up toward the burn hole near one of her pockets. “What happened…?”

She glances down to see what he’s talking about. On seeing, her eyes narrow and her jaw becomes rigid. “I’d forgotten… I was going to ask you about that.”

His head tilts. “About… what?”

“I remember…” Emiya says. “That guy in red charged the guy with the spear, and then this silver light shot out of her jacket and slammed into his back. After that, the guy stabbed him in the chest…”

Tohsaka nods. “Right. That was that stone. I’d forgotten about it entirely.” Her icy gaze drops toward Taiasu now. “That stone was yours, right? So why don’t you tell us what happened?”

His head tilts the other direction now. “No… Those stones aren’t mine… I mean, they’re in my possession, but I know exactly as much about them as you do… Wait, you said it shot out of your coat and buried into Archer’s back?”

Emiya nods. “If Archer was the guy in red, yeah.”

Taiasu’s gaze drops to the floor as he frowns, rubbing his chin.

“I haven’t the slightest… I had another… Grr…” He rubs his forehead. “This is going to be a long night…”

“We may make it shorter if we dispense with the idle conversation, and begin filling in the blanks,” Saber says, and Taiasu directs his gaze at her now.

“Ah… right… I’m sorry, I was out for a bit… Who are you…!” He smacks the back of his head. “Ah, I’m sorry, that was rude! I should…”

His short legs carry him the small distance between the two of them and he cuts his stature with a bow.

“I’m Taiasu! Taiasu Taruko, from Hydaelyn!”

Saber stares down at him and her eyes widen slightly before her cool expression returns, though a soft smile helps to warm it slightly.

_Strange creature… But he does not seem like a bad person._

“I am pleased to meet you. You may call me Saber,” she says, nodding.

“That’s a str—!”

He claps his hands over his mouth, cutting himself off.

_Don’t be rude, stupid!_

He shakes his head and lowers his hands.

“Nice to meet you, too! And you, as well,” he says, turning toward Emiya. “I’m sorry I didn’t introduce myself properly the last time…”

Emiya rubs the back of his head and sighs. “Yeah… well, our first meeting was a little odd, to say the least… Ah, I’m Shirou. Emiya Shirou.” He steps forward, bending down and extending his hand.

Taiasu extends his upward, standing on his toes, and shakes the extended hand. “Tohsaka said I should ask first. Is it okay if I call you Shirou, or would you prefer Emiya?”

Tohsaka laughs, and Emiya’s head leans to the side for a moment as he withdraws his hand, ending their introductory handshake.

“I… I’m not sure, honestly…” he says. “I’ve never actually had anyone come out and ask that before…”

Saber directs her stare toward Emiya, and her eyes soften. “Shirou… I quite like that name.”

The boy glances toward her, and then at the floor as he reddens a few shades. He shakes his head and looks at Taiasu again. “Wait, you said Tohsaka told you?”

He nods enthusiastically. “The way you were all addressing each other confused me, and—”

She leans down and clasps her hand over his mouth. “We can discuss that later,” she says with a hard smirk.

Emiya’s brows half-arch. “Hold on… Something’s off. You make it sound like…”

“Yeah, he’s been around for a few days. Apparently he’s from another planet. Literally,” Tohsaka says, struggling against his squirming. Finally, she releases him.

He huffs. “Just tell me to be quiet next time, jeez,” he says, frowning. “I get it. No more tangents. I’ll try, anyway…” His stare drops and he scuffs the floor. “Just… you know, glare at me like you do.” He directs his gaze back up toward Emiya now. “Yes. This is my third day here, and I spent most of the first two following you.”

“Right. Because the old man,” Emiya says, sighing.

Taiasu’s eyes widen for a moment. “Yeah… So you were listening.”

He nods silently.

“Okay… Hopefully that makes this easier. So what do you remember of what I said?”

He sighs and rubs his forehead. “Some old guy who acts old but isn’t old asked you to come here and follow me around is about all I got out of that rambling nonsense you were saying on the way home…” He lets his hand drop. “And honestly, I thought you were some lost kid until you blew up that tree.”

Tohsaka’s jaw drops. “Blew up… a tree?”

Taiasu sighs. “He wasn’t listening. I figured I could convince him with a flashy display.”

“So you… blew up a tree…”

“I told him to pick something. If anyone is to blame, it’s him.”

Emiya’s eyes widen as he looks from Taiasu to Tohsaka and back again. “I didn’t think he’d actually do it!”

Saber looks down at him now. “How did you destroy a tree?”

“Ninjutsu!” he says with a wide grin.

Tohsaka groans. “Please don’t encourage him. Seriously, he can go on for hours. I’ve heard it…”

“Hey, I thought you said you liked my stories.”

She sighs. “Yes, Taiasu, but there’s a time and a place, and it’s neither here nor now.”

The small man frowns. “Right, sorry. Okay, so what Emiya said about the old man is half right. He told me to come here and do the things I do in a new place, which is… well, I already said a few times, but mostly helping people however I can.”

“Helping…” Saber’s eyebrows half-arch. “By blowing up trees…?”

He sighs. “Can we please move on from the tree? No, that was to prove what I was saying, but he started calling me a magus and he shut me out of his house, which was…” His stare drops and he scuffs the floor a few more times. “Understandable… Then Lancer showed up, and we fought…”

His stare traces the floor back to Saber, and his eyes widen again. “And then you showed up… I know your name, but why are you here?”

“I answered Shirou’s summoning,” she says calmly, and Emiya goes a deeper shade of red.

_Why does she keep using my name like that…_

Taiasu’s head tilts to the side again. “He summoned…? I’ve never seen a summon like you before. If I had, I might have taken it up…”

Tohsaka opens her mouth, but closes it again.

_No, if I ask that question, we’ll be here forever… I’ll save it for later._

She sighs. “I had Emiya-kun summon her while you were fending off Lancer. I remembered what you said…” Her voice trails for a moment and she frowns. “Well, I vaguely remember anyway, what you said about those crystals, and it looked like you were about to have problems.”

“Hold on, Emiya’s a summoner?” Taiasu looks, but finds him in the kitchen, rifling through a cupboard.

“Tohsaka, what sort of tea do you prefer?”

“Huh? Tea?” She glances toward Emiya, who’s bringing down a few small boxes.

“If we’re going to be awhile, which it looks like, I thought we could use some refreshments.”

“Ah… well, I’m fine with whichever, but please bring out some sugar as well.”

“I have no particular preference either, Shirou,” Saber says as he brings down a few cups and puts some water on to boil.

“I’m good for—” Taiasu’s stomach rumbles loudly, and his face goes a deep red. “Er… That’s right. I haven’t eaten since this morning…”

Emiya sighs. “I don’t have anything ready, but can you make do with some crackers?”

Taiasu nods. “I’m sorry to impose… Anyway, you said Emiya’s a summoner? They have those in your world?”

Tohsaka shakes her head. “I don’t know, but I’m guessing not. It was a rush job and honestly.” She smiles softly. “I’m amazed it worked. At least, as well as it did…” Her eyes narrow as she strokes her chin. “It really shouldn’t have… Saber, are you having any problems?”

She shakes her head. “No. Everything seems to be as it should.”

“Ah, that’s good…” she says, nodding. “Oh, by the way. I’m Rin. Tohsaka Rin.”

Saber nods. “Pleased to meet you, Rin.”

Taiasu’s head tilts.

_Do all Servants use given names?_

* * *

Saber sits with her legs folded at the knee, thighs resting against her calves. Taiasu sits on a couple of floor pillows so he can see over the low table. Tohsaka and Emiya sit with their legs crossed. Tohsaka adds a few tablespoons of sugar to her cup of black tea and stirs it a few times before taking a sip and smiling contentedly. Taiasu grabs a few crackers and munches them down quickly.

“So why don’t we begin with the immediate concern,” Tohsaka says, turning to Emiya. “That of the situation in which you now find yourself.”

Emiya nods silently. Taiasu continues munching down the crackers, and Saber’s observant stare traces a path between all three of them at regular intervals.

“First things first, we’re both magi. I think that goes without saying,” she says to Emiya, who’s slow nod comes to a halt.

“Actually… I’m not a proper magus,” he mumbles.

Tohsaka sighs. “I was afraid of that. So when you say that, what do you mean?”

He stares at the floor and closes his eyes. “I mean… I only really know how to do one thing.”

“And that one thing is…?”

“… Reinforcement magic…” he mutters.

“Reinforcement… magic? That’s all?”

He nods. “That’s all…”

“So… nothing about the five key elements? Nothing about making a pass?”

Emiya shakes his head, and Tohsaka palms her entire face with both hands.

“And this guy got the best Servant, Saber… What kind of cruel joke is this? And all he knows is something weird like reinforcement magic?” She frowns at the floor.

“Sorry, question!” Taiasu says, raising his hand like he’s in a classroom.

Tohsaka sighs. “Yes…?”

“I meant to ask before, but what happened? I mean, why did you and Archer come?”

Tohsaka’s blinks several times. “That’s… actually a reasonable question…”

“Hey!” Taiasu says, frowning. “I don’t like that tone.”

She shakes her head. “No, it just… forget it. I came because I was worried. I thought Lancer might come if he realized Emiya-kun was still alive.”

Taiasu nods. “So even though I was here… So you were worried?” he says, grinning.

She grinds her teeth. “Can we please just focus? I answered your question, so please be quiet for a few minutes.”

“Fiiiine,” Taiasu says, returning his attention to the diminishing supply of crackers on the table.

Tohsaka turns her attention back to Emiya. “So then it’s safe to say you know nothing about your circumstances?” she asks, and he nods.

“Thought so. Just had to be sure,” she says, nodding in return. “The short of it is that you’ve been chosen as a Master. It’s what that symbol on your left hand means.” She pulls back the sleeve of her long white dress shirt, revealing her own. Two red concentric circles on the back of her right hand, with a short red line jutting from the top of the outer circle.

Taiasu finishes the last few crackers before licking the salt from his red leather gloves, while Saber remains seated in stately silence.

Emiya holds up his left hand. “This?”

His is a more intricate design in three parts; the part closest to his wrist is a red stroke that starts narrow, and broadens as it approaches the next part, which looks to be ‘W’ drawn with calligraphy that reaches into the topmost part, which appears to be an ornate arrowhead.

Tohsaka nods. “That, yes. That’s a command spell which gives absolute authority over a Servant. In your case, that means Saber.”

Emiya glances at her, and then cuts his gaze short, turning it back to Tohsaka.

“As long as you have it, it allows you to keep control of her,” she says.

Emiya quarter-tilts his head. “Wait… as long as I have it?”

Tohsaka nods. “Yes. Servants have their own will. They’re not what you might think of as regular familiars. Those command spells allow you to subvert that will.”

“Subvert their… will?” Emiya glances back at Saber, who remains silent. “I don’t think I like that.”

Taiasu nods. “Yeah, that sounds…”

Tohsaka nods as well. “I can understand. It sounds worse than it is. It can also empower a Servant to perform feats that would exceed their abilities under normal circumstances. You can use a command spell to bring your servant to you from the other side of the world in an instant, if you need to do so.”

The small man whistles. “That’s impressive. Usually you have to be attuned to an—”

Tohsaka shoots a glare at him, and he clamps his mouth shut. She nods and returns her attention to Emiya.

“You can only use them twice, though. If you use it a third time, then Saber won’t be bound to you anymore. So treat her well, okay?”

Emiya reddens a few shades, but nods, and Tohsaka smiles.

“Good, so you understand that much. Now, as far as what it means to be a Master, there are six others, myself included. The shortest version is that each has their own Servant, and each is trying to be the last surviving Master and Servant remaining,” Tohsaka says, her tone even.

Emiya scoffs. “Last… surviving? So what, we’re just supposed to go around killing each other?”

Tohsaka offers a curt nod to his question, and his jaw goes slack.

“Wait… seriously?”

She nods again. “The last surviving Master and Servant receive the prize, the Holy Grail.”

His eyes widen. “Holy… do you mean that Holy Grail?”

“I don’t know,” she says, shrugging. “That’s just what they call it, so it’s unlikely.”

“What’s a Holy Grail?” Taiasu asks.

“It’s beyond the scope of this conversation,” Tohsaka says.

“Ah, sorry. I was just curious.”

“It’s fine.”

Saber takes a sip of her tea, and her cup clinks softly as she returns it to the table while Tohsaka redirects her attention from Taiasu back to Emiya.

The boy shakes his head for a second. “Hold on… This is a lot to process.”

Tohsaka nods. “I understand your feelings. I’m just saying what’s the case. Besides that, you should understand well enough. After all, you’ve already tasted death once tonight. And if it weren’t for Taiasu, you’d probably have gotten a more permanent taste.”

Emiya glances toward Taiasu, who has his elbows resting on the table, and his chin resting in his hands, head bobbing casually from side to side with a somewhat vacant expression on his face.

_She’s right… I didn’t realize, but Lancer came here for me. If he hadn’t been here…_

He glances back at Tohsaka, who’s laughing to herself.

“Actually, you did die… I’m surprised you’re alive after that.”

His eyes widen and his face goes pale.

_She’s right again… That was definitely death… Why am I still alive? How am I still alive?_

Tohsaka stops laughing at his expression, though she keeps her soft smile. “Seems you understand. I’ll continue then. Though I should warn you, my knowledge of the Holy Grail War is limited.”

Taiasu’s head stops bobbing at that.

_War, huh? Like the Dragonsong War, or the Garlean Occupation…_

He frowns and sighs, but remains quiet.

Tohsaka glances at him for a second, but just for a second.

“What I know is that every few decades, seven Masters are chosen to receive seven Servants,” she says. Her eyes narrow softly, but she maintains her friendly smile. “I’m one of them, and obviously you are too, now that you’ve received and contracted with Saber.”

Emiya, whose color has slowly returned over the past minute, nods. “Right… when she appeared I was amazed at how beau—er, what she said, asking if I was her Master… Then the pain in my hand, and she rushed outside the shed.”

The scene replays in his mind.

A girl with breathtaking beauty standing before him, and another toward whom he housed fond feelings standing behind him, and he on the floor gaping like a fool.

_Then there was the rest of what she said. I got chills… First thing she did was ask for an order, and then… ‘From this time forth, my sword shall be with you, and your fate shall be with me. — Now, our contract is complete.’_

The scene causes a shudder to radiate from Emiya’s spine outward. Not an uncomfortable sort. The sort of shudder you get from standing before something that defies description.

“Emiya-kun, are you listening?” Tohsaka says, frowning at his vacant expression.

“Eh? Yeah, sorry… I was just… remembering that whole thing,” he says.

She sighs. “Well, please save that for later.”

He nods, and she goes on with her explanation.

“So what I was saying is that the Master works together with their Servant to dispose of the other Masters until either they are eliminated themselves, or are the last Master and Servant left standing.”

Emiya nods, but then shakes his head. “Hold on, something is off about this. Servants are summoned like a familiar, but she’s…” He glances at Saber, who is regarding him with a cool expression. “I mean, she’s not a familiar. She can’t be, right?”

Tohsaka nods. “Similar, but it’s like comparing a handgun to heavy artillery. They’re on two entirely different levels. That girl is a Ghost Liner, strongest among the familiars.”

Taiasu’s mouth opens, but he quickly clamps it shut.

_Maybe I’ll ask about that later…_

Emiya’s mouth slacks slightly. “Ghost Liner… Then she really is a ghost?”

Tohsaka crosses her arms in front of her. “Sort of… but she’d be insulted if you compared her to one like that. Servants are heroes from the past made flesh. They surpass humans in every way. Legendary heroes, pulled from their place in time and given a body.”

“Wait, does that mean they could be pulled from the future too?” Taiasu asks.

She nods, but then stops. “I’m… not entirely certain. I mean, it’s possible, but I can’t answer that question for sure.”

Taiasu shrugs and returns to resting his head on the table, stifling a yawn. Then he sits up and rifles through his pack, pulling out sets of crystals and draining them. Tohsaka pulls her gaze away from that and back toward Emiya.

“The Master does the summoning, but it’s the Grail that makes it possible. Without that, it wouldn’t be possible,” she says.

“Hang on, you said a hero from the past?” Emiya’s eyes widen as he glances over at Saber, who remains seated, silently sipping her tea. “That’s impossible. I’ve never heard of such a thing…”

Tohsaka laughs. “Yeah, and you’ve never heard of guys like this either, right?” she says, gesturing toward Taiasu, who is returning a fifth set of drained crystals from his pack and bringing out a sixth.

“That’s… fair,” Emiya says.

Tohsaka again tears her gaze away, but finally yields to her curiosity. “Okay, I can’t stand it anymore. How are you doing that?”

Taiasu glances up on realizing the question is being directed at him. “Huh? These? I don’t know, it just—”

She shakes her head. “No, not that. How are you pulling so much out of that pack?”

Taiasu’s head half-tilts to the side. “I… don’t understand the question?”

Tohsaka palms her face. “Fine, let me see that…” She reaches across the table and snatches his pack.

“Hey!” He reaches for it, but she presses him back and grabs the spent crystals he was about to stuff into it, piling them together next to it.

The six spent crystals alone make a pile larger than the pack itself.

“See? There’s no way these should fit into this thing, but you’ve been pulling them out over and over for the past several minutes!” she says, frowning. “How are you doing that?”

Taiasu’s eyes widen with understanding. “Oh… I see what you mean.”

He stares at the table, frowning, tapping the side of his head. Then he closes his eyes and furrows his brow as he folds his arms across his chest. His hand comes up and kneads his forehead aggressively as his frown cuts deeper into his face.

Finally, his eyes snap open, and he looks up at Tohsaka.

“Yeah, that is strange.”

* * *

At a United States Geological Survey office in the middle of nowhere, one intern’s eyebrow raises slightly, and he calls over a passing supervisor.

“Sir, we just detected a magnitude two in the Fuyuki Prefecture of Japan.”

The supervisor sighs. “Japan is on the ring of fire, newbie. That’s normal.”

* * *

Tohsaka picks herself up from the ground in a dissipating cloud of dust, smirking so hard her face might crack, and eye twitching so violently it threatens to cede her face.

Taiasu shrugs dismissively. “I guess I just never thought about it, but you’re right. That is weird…” He reaches across the table and grabs the pack and crystals, stuffing them inside before pulling out six more.

Tohsaka’s eye twitch subsides and her frustrated smirk dissolves.

_I’ve seen extra-dimensional magic before… Maybe it’s like that, but to be so casual about it… What sort of world is he from?_

She sighs heavily, shelving the thought and turning her attention back to a nonplussed Emiya.

“What was I saying… Right, the impossible magic. It’s not magic. It’s beyond magic. Something only possible because of the Grail. It’s impossible to recreate a soul and give it a body otherwise.”

“Right… we were talking about that…” Emiya says. “So you’re saying she’s not a ghost, then?”

Tohsaka nods. “No. You’re not a proper magus, so you wouldn’t know, but anything with a great enough legacy is removed from the reincarnation cycle and becomes a being of higher rank. That’s what heroic spirits, like Saber, are. Beings revered and deified like gods, though they aren’t actually gods.”

“That sounds a lot like a Primal…” Taiasu says, staring at Saber, who glances at him, eyebrows half-arched.

“Primal?”

He shakes his head. “Would take too long, and Tohsaka will clobber me.”

“Correct on both counts,” Tohsaka says, nodding with a smile. “He can be taught.”

He grins while rubbing the back of his neck, but remains silent and Tohsaka nods again.

“‘Ghost Magic’, like supplicating ghosts, uses heroic spirits to make miracles like this happen. But the Servants are familiars of the heroes themselves. Generally, they remain in spirit form and follow you around, but when necessary, they can materialize and fight.”

Emiya folds his arms across his chest as he looks at the floor. “So spirit form or physical form…? What about your Servant, Tohsaka? I don’t see him, so is he in Spirit Form?”

“He’s not,” she says, looking at the floor. “That hit from Lancer was pretty bad, so he’s resting at my house, healing in the summoning circle right now. He’d have probably been done for if I hadn’t withdrawn him by force.”

She stares hard at the floor. “I still want to know what that light was about…”

Taiasu’s gaze drops and he frowns sadly.

_Damn it, I…_

“I’m sorry… I feel like that was my fault…” he mutters.

_It feels like all I’m doing is apologizing…_

Tohsaka glances over at him. “I don’t think so. I mean, unless you know more than you’re telling…”

He quickly shakes his head. “I don’t… but I still feel bad.”

Tohsaka gives a small smile. “He’ll be fine. It might have been serious if he was human, but he should… recover…?”

She stares down at Taiasu and her brows arch. “Hold on, you’ve recovered already too. How did that happen?”

Taiasu looks up at her. “Hm? Lancer didn’t land any serious hits. I recover from injuries pretty quick once I’m outside of a battle.”

“Is it that way for all of you?”

He nods. “I think so. We recover more slowly in battle, but adventurers recover from minor injuries really quick once the fighting is done. Even serious injuries are healed in just a few hours… Well, that’s how it is on Hydaelyn, anyway. Here, it might be…”

He shudders. “I’d rather not have to find out…”

Tohsaka blinks a few times.

_He’d be terrifying if he were actually a servant…_

She redirects her focus again. “Back to the subject at hand, the only ones who can beat Servants are… well, a few days ago, I’d say only a Servant could beat a Servant.” Her gaze traces a path between Taiasu and Saber. “Seems that may no longer be true. Even so, generally the Master takes care of support while the Servants battle the Servants.”

Saber finishes her tea and nods silently as her cup clinks softly against the table.

“The war will continue until there is only one Master and one Servant left standing,” Tohsaka says, holding up her right index finger as she makes her last point.

Emiya’s brow furrows inwardly. “I mean, I guess… But I’m not fully convinced yet. For starters, who began this? And for what reason?”

Tohsaka shakes her head as she brushes her hair back. “That’s not a question you should ask me. It would be better to ask the overseer. The only other thing I can say is to make wise use of your Servant for as long as you are in this fight.”

Having finished her explanation to Emiya, Tohsaka turns her attention to Saber.

“So you said you’re okay, but is that really true?” she asks.

Saber frowns slightly. “You are quite perceptive… There is one thing I did not mention.”

Tohsaka smirks. “Yes, go on.”

“I am unable to enter spirit form,” she says. “Though that has nothing to do with the summoning. It was an excellent summoning, for one that was performed so haphazardly. The reason is…” Saber’s gaze drops to the floor. “Complex. I ask that you do not pry any further into it.”

Tohsaka’s eyes widen. “That was… surprising. I was mostly bluffing, but that you would be so open about such a vulnerability is…”

Saber shakes her head. “I see no benefit in hiding it. Even if you had not perceived it, concealing this would only be to our detriment, seeing as you are assisting Shirou.”

Tohsaka sighs despondently. “If you’re like that… If only I’d gotten you instead… Archer’s fine, but this would have been a guaranteed win.”

“So what, you’re saying I’m not fit as her Master?” Emiya says, frowning.

“Of course you aren’t, idiot,” she says flatly.

Emiya frowns sadly, kneading his forehead.

_She called me an idiot like it was as natural as breathing. My idol stripped bare before my eyes. Issei was right. She really is just like he said…_

Taiasu laughs, dropping the crystal he’d been returning to his bag. “That’s kind of harsh…”

Tohsaka glances down at him. “No, it’s true. He was selected, but he’s not qualified. I still don’t understand why he was selected… It makes no sense.”

Taiasu shrugs and picks up the crystal, returning it to his pack before pulling out another set of six.

“How… many of those are you going to consume?” Tohsaka asks.

“Two hundred sets. This makes… Oh hells.” He frowns. “Damn it… seventy… eighty… ninety… one hundred twenty… One hundred twenty-three. Please don’t distract me, I’ll lose track.”

“T-two hundred—!” Tohsaka’s eyes go full-wide as her brow lifts to the center of her forehead.

He nods, but says nothing else as he drains the hundred and twenty-fourth set, and Tohsaka only shakes her head. “That’s… kind of scary.” She sighs softly. “Anyway, Emiya-kun, did you have any more questions?”

Emiya’s hand falls limply at his side and he sighs, and shakes his head sullenly.

“Well, if you have no more questions, I think…” She casts her gaze down to Taiasu now.

“One hundred twenty-five…” he mutters before glancing up. “Hm? Something happening?”


	23. Steel, Song and Salsa

“Yes, something is happening,” Tohsaka says. “We’ve covered the cliff notes version of the conflict, Masters and Servants. But we still have a few questions about the mouse sized elephant in the room.”

Taiasu’s eyes go full wide and his mouth breaks in an eager grin.

“Wait… you mean, you want me to…?”

Tohsaka sighs and palms her face. “Yes… But for the sake of our time, please try to keep your tangents and digressions few and brief.”

Taiasu’s grin widens, which should be impossible, and he gives two sharp nods before closing his eyes.

“One hundred twenty-five… One hundred twenty-five…”

Saber glances down at him. “One hundred twenty-five…?”

His shining green eyes open wide. “Just trying not to forget where I left off. So what did you want to know?”

“What happened with Lancer?” Tohsaka asks. “Saber said she didn’t defeat him. But he left, so I’d like to know. The shortest version possible, please.”

Taiasu nods. “I hit him with the Tōkizan after you dragged Emiya into the shed,” he says. His grin slips a few degrees. “After that, he was about to kill me.” The grin dissolves into a soft frown. “Even without that, if you hadn’t come out when you did, I’d have…” His eyes widen for a moment. “That reminds me. Thank you for that. I still need to replace those…” he says as he sifts through his pack. After a few seconds, five small glowing shards clatter across the table toward Tohsaka, not a red one among them.

She picks one of them up, looking it over. “Right… you said you couldn’t use them anymore. Why is that?”

He closes the pack and sets it aside. “Because I need the aether to live, but if it’s out of balance, it can do bad things to me. That’s why I have to consume six of each at a time. I imagine five would be… fine… but I figure there’s no reason to take the risk.”

Emiya raises his hand. “Sorry… What’s the… what did you say? The ‘Tōkizan’?”

Taiasu’s gaze drops to the floor. “It doesn’t translate well into the common tongue. I prefer In’yō Tōkizan, but… well… in the common tongue it’s…” His voice drops low as his face goes a few shades of red while he fidgets with his fingers.

“Yin-Yang Fighting Spirit Slash.”

Emiya leans in closer. “Sorry, what?”

He sighs and groans. “Yin-yang… Fighting… Spirit Slash…”

The boy leans back, while Tohsaka covers her face to hide her huge grin. Saber leans her head to the side, and Taiasu groans again.

“I said it doesn’t translate well…”

Emiya shrugs. “Okay… well, what it’s called aside, what does it do is what I meant.”

Taiasu palms his face, elongating it as he pulls it down with his hand.

“Of course that’s what you meant…” he says, sighing. “The shortest answer is a powerful attack that uses the five Chakra that exist within all living things. Once they’re open, I can combine them into a sort of… explosive super punch. Without showing you, it’s the best way I can describe it.”

The boy’s face goes blank. “Chakra… super punch?”

“Okay, so you hit Lancer with this Spirit Fighting Yin-Yang Slash…” Tohsaka says, struggling against her laughter. “Then what happened?”

“Please just call it the Tōkizan…” Taiasu says, frowning. “As for what happened, well… It worked. Just not like I’d hoped. I collapsed afterward. Lancer was gloating about how I’d missed his heart, saying the fight was over, and then… Saber called out and I guess that was enough for him to leave.”

Saber nods. “He said his Master was calling him away. Though he seemed less than eager to continue the battle. He was quite injured.”

Taiasu’s frown brightens into a soft smile. “So it wasn’t for nothing. He still would have ended me if you hadn’t called out…” he says, looking up at her. “So thank you for that.”

Saber offers no reply other than a soft smile and a nod, and Emiya lifts his cup of lukewarm tea to his mouth.

“So that’s the short of what happened with Lancer…” Taiasu says, nodding. “What else did you want to know?”

“You were saying something before,” Tohsaka says. “About how you…” She cringes. “About how you… ‘saw into my soul’? What was that about?”

The tea which had just passed into Emiya’s mouth now finds itself a fine mist sprayed throughout the room.

“Sorry, what now?” he says, wiping his face.

“It’s the Echo,” Taiasu says, wiping his own. “I hadn’t had time to explain it properly… We still don’t have that kind of time, but what she said is correct. It…” He frowns, his brow furrowing to a soft point. “It’s complicated, and vague, and… annoying. But, again, the shortest answer is that at times unknown for reasons unknown, this thing in my head, the Echo, will resonate with a person’s soul. When that happens, I’ll see a part of that person’s past.”

Saber’s eyes widen. “See their past…?”

He nods. “What it shows is… well, I never know. And since I’ve arrived here, it’s been going crazy. It happened when Emiya was in the shed with that shy girl. It happened again when he was with Tohsaka a couple of days ago, and again when that stern-looking teacher came into that room with Emiya and the glasses-guy.”

“Hold on…” Tohsaka holds up her hand, counting them off. “So those three times?”

Taiasu shakes his head. “Not just those. Then there was the night when I first got here. Emiya was walking away from that girl in purple… Illyasviel. It went off then… too…” His voice trails as he recalls the scene in the snow.

“So four times…?” Tohsaka says. “Is it always that active?”

He shakes his head again. “No, that’s what I was saying. And then it went off again when Archer showed up tonight… He was there over me, and then I was in this ruined city… and I heard him say something about a contract. Then I was back, and you were telling him to disappear.”

She sighs. “Yes, that cost me a command spell… If that streak of light hadn’t happened, things might have gone differently.”

“Streak of light… You mean that Soulanchor Stone you took from me,” he says, looking up at her.

She nods. “Yeah, I’d forgotten about it… Wait, you were saying something about that before too, right? What was it you were saying about them?”

He leans his head to the side. “Was I…? Sorry, can you remind me?”

“It was when we were on our way to school earlier today,” she says. “You showed me those four colored rocks, and then you said you thought they changed after you met us, remember?”

Taiasu takes a second, rubbing his forehead, but then nods. “Right, yeah… Sorry… A lot happened today.”

He opens the pouch with the stones and sifts through, bringing out the three remaining colored stones; one lapis, one amethyst and one ruby. He also brings out a non-distinct one for reference. Saber’s eyes widen at each stone as he sets them on the table, and Emiya’s head tilts to the side in utter confusion.

“Hold on, sorry,” he says. “There’s a lot to track here, what’s a Soulanchor Stone?”

Taiasu rubs his forehead again. “Those,” he says, pointing at the four stones on the table. “I showed you one before, remember?”

Emiya’s face blanks again as he shakes his head. “No… Wait.” His head shake stops. “Yeah, I remember now. It was before you blew up that—”

“Yes, before that,” Taiasu says sharply. “I was talking about these three… I had some thoughts, but I don’t know for sure…” he says, frowning.

“Just say it,” Tohsaka says. “You said you know as much as we do, right? So all we have to go on are theory and conjecture. So say what you’re thinking.”

He sighs again. “Right… Okay, so when the Echo went off when I was near that girl, that Illyasviel, I saw her and… this giant in a snow covered forest… It was the same giant she called Berserker. The one she used to try to, uh… kill me that night.”

Tohsaka nods. “I remember. So what about it?”

“Well… when I went to bed that night, I’d checked the stones and saw this one.” He points to the ruby colored stone. “I thought it looked like her eyes. I thought there might be some connection, but I dismissed it because these two didn’t…”

He points to the lapis and amethyst colored stones. “These and that silver colored stone. None of them looked like that stern-looking guy’s eyes. Or yours, or the shy girl.”

“The stern-looking guy’s name is Kuzuki-sensei,” Emiya says. “And the shy girl… I’m guessing you’re talking about Sakura.”

Taiasu nods. “Yeah, that’s the one… But I can’t call her that.”

Tohsaka quarter-arches her brow. “Huh? Why not?”

His eyes narrow. “Because I haven’t asked her? That’s what you said, right?”

“Uh…” Her eyes widen slightly and her brow quarter-arch goes half.

_Seriously? That’s taking it kind of far…_

“Well, just call her Matou then,” she says.

Taiasu shakes his head. “I can’t call her that… It… reminds me of that blue-haired guy, and he reminds me of something else.” He frowns. “Something sad…”

“Another vision?” Tohsaka asks, and he shakes his head again.

“No… Something that happened to—” His gaze falls as eyes dip and his frown droops. “I’d rather not talk about it. If I can, I’ll just ask her later, but for now I’m just going to… We’re getting too far off track. I’ll figure it out later. You said the stern guy’s name was Kuzuki?”

He glances up at Emiya, who nods.

“That’s right,” he says.

_This guy’s a little odd…_

“And glasses-guy is Issei, but you probably knew that.”

“Yeah, I heard him called that and Ryuudou, but that’s not important,” Taiasu says, shaking his head. “At least, not right now. We were talking about the stones and…”

His brow furrows sharply and his eyes narrow as he stares at the stones on the table.

_Damn it, where even were we? What the hells was I saying…?_

Taiasu frowns hard. “The stones… and the stern guy… DAMN IT!” He pounds the table and the stones rattle. “I can’t remember! Damn it!!”

He looks up at Tohsaka, whose eyes are widening, and then at Emiya, whose mouth hangs slightly. He takes in a deep breath and lets it out slowly and stares hard at one of the tatami mats, his face cut by a sharp frown.

“Sorry I got angry… It happens sometimes when I get distracted…”

Tohsaka’s eyes return to normal, and she smiles softly.

“It’s okay,” she says.

_It’s like this morning…_

“You were talking about that one, and Illyasviel. Something about her eyes?” She gestures to the ruby colored stone, and his eyes go full wide.

“RIGHT! I remember now!” he yells, looking up at her, his frown vanishing into a new, bright smile. “Yes! That stone! Thank you!” Her eyes widen slightly again, but she nods and remains quiet.

“I thought it looked like that girl’s eyes,” he says “I thought there was a connection, but then the other stones… Those two and that silver one. None of them matched with anyone else!”

She shakes her head. “Sorry, I don’t follow…”

He frowns again. “Okay… So I had four stones that changed… And in a short period, I had four… I’m calling them resonance events. There was the one with…” His frown sharpens for a moment before he shakes his head. “There was the one in the shed on my first day here. Then there was my second one, when I saw you in the hallway with Emiya and glass—er, Ryuudou. Then that night, with Illyasviel when Emiya was on his way home, and again the next day when that stern—er, Kuzuki. When he came into that small room with Ryuudou and Emiya… That was the fourth time, and…”

His frown softens and his face quickly turns several shades of red.

Tohsaka glances at Saber, who is gazing at the stones on the table, and then over at Emiya, who meets her gaze and merely shrugs. Then she looks back at Taiasu.

“So Kuzuki entered the room. What happened next?”

He shakes his head. “Yeah… sorry. I was just remembering. When the Echo went off with him, I saw this woman… She was in a forest, and it was raining. She was collapsed, covered in blood, and had a weird-looking weapon in her hand. It looked like a dagger, but…” He shakes his head again. “I’d never use something like that in a fight. Then that Kuzuki guy showed up and carried her someplace else… I’m not sure where because everything went dark and then we were someplace else.”

“So Kuzuki-sensei lifted this blood-covered woman with a strange weapon and carried her off… That’s what you saw?” Tohsaka asks, and Taiasu nods.

“Hang on.” Emiya holds up both hands. “You… you believe him? Tohsaka?”

She nods. “He… told me about mine,” she says, smiling sadly. “He couldn’t have known what he was saying, so yeah.” She stares down at him.

“I believe him.”

“What did he see in yours?” Saber asks, quietly.

Taiasu’s eyes narrow and he shakes his head. “Never mind that, we’re talking about this one now,” he says sharply. “Ah…!” His eyes widen and his gaze shifts quickly to Saber.

“That was rude!” He turns to her and offers a brief yet polite bow. “I’m sorry…”

Saber’s eyes widen slightly, but she just shakes her head. “It is fine. Please go on.”

He looks back at Tohsaka, whose eyes widen slightly.

“Taiasu…?” Her mind goes back to the discussion they’d had earlier that day about what he’d seen, and how she’d gotten upset by it.

_Did he do that on purpose…?_

His head tilts to one side. “Hm? Something wrong?”

She shakes her head. “No… Sorry, go on. You were saying Kuzuki had carried the woman someplace else, remember?”

He smiles, and his head straightens. “Yeah, thanks. So when I was there in that vision, the woman… She said a lot of things that I’ve been hearing. She talked about the Holy Grail, she talked about Masters and Servants. She said she’d killed her own Master, and she called herself Caster.”

Tohsaka is on her feet in a second, her eyes going full-wide.

“Caster! You heard that for sure? She called herself Caster?”

Taiasu leans away slightly. “Yeah… she did. Why, is that important?”

“Caster is one of the seven Servants summoned during this conflict,” Saber says, her eyes narrowing. “What else happened?” Her gaze shifts from the stones to Taiasu now.

“Ah… right. Well, she asked if he believed her, and then…” His face again goes hard-red. “She… she…”

He pulls at his fingers, and his red face turns downward, his gaze staring a hole into another mat on the floor. “She asked him… She asked if he’d… lay down with her.”

Steam almost shoots out of his ears. Emiya’s face goes a few shades of red, and Tohsaka gives a knowing grin.

“Saw that, did you?”

He shakes his head violently. “No! They did, but thank every god everything went out before that… Then I was back and Emiya, Kuzuki and glasses-guy were all around me. I thought I was…” His voice trails off again.

“Yeah, you ran out of there pretty quick,” Emiya says. “I was surprised. I’d never seen anyone run that fast, let alone someone so small.”

“That’s why you went after me…” Taiasu says, frowning.

Tohsaka’s eyes widen. “Hold on… Emiya-kun, you’ve seen Taiasu before?”

He nods. “That was the first time…”

Taiasu shakes his head. “No… You saw me in the hall my first day here. When the Echo resonated with Tohsaka.”

Emiya shakes his head for a second, but then stops as his eyes widen. “Wait… That was you?”

He nods. “Yeah… I was exactly as surprised as you are right now,” he says. “Besides Archer, you’re the only one who saw me when I was skulking about.” His frown cuts deeper into his expression. “Archer, I could get. He’s… well, powerful. But you’re just a kid, so I was pretty upset when that happened.”

“I thought I was just sleep deprived…” Emiya says, shaking his head.

“Okay… can we please get back on topic?” Tohsaka says. “That’s some useful information. We know Kuzuki… oh no.” She frowns and groans at the same time. “Kuzuki-sensei and Emiya-kun both are Master’s… Archer will never let me hear the end of this.”

Taiasu’s eyes widen. “Oh yeah. He said that, didn’t he?”

“Yes… He did. I can already hear him snickering…” Her frown shifts into a scowl. “I’ll just have to bear it. So was there anything else about that vision?”

“No… Nothing else…” Taiasu’s gaze falls to the table, and the four stones, and then comes to rest on the lapis one, and his eyes widen again.

“Sorry… I was wrong,” he says, lifting the lapis colored stone. “This stone. It’s the same color as Caster’s eyes. That steel colored stone, the one that transformed into a silver light and buried itself into Archer. You said that one was the same color as his eyes.”

Tohsaka nods and her eyes slowly widen. “I… think I see…”

Taiasu nods. “Yeah… but there’s something that doesn’t track.” He sets down the lapis stone and picks up the amethyst and ruby stones. “These two. This one is the color of the girl’s eyes. The only Servant whose eyes come close was Lancer, but this isn’t a match for that… That’s why I was going to write this theory off,” he says, shaking his head.

“There’s something else…” Emiya says, rubbing his chin. “What was it you said? Something about the shed? Your.. what did you call it, Echo? You said it went off there, right?”

Taiasu nods. “Yeah… And it wasn’t you it resonated with. It was the girl… And none of the stones match her eyes either. I mean, this one is close, but…” He sets the ruby stone down and holds up the amethyst stone. “Her eyes are darker than this… So the only connection I can draw is the count, but…!” He pounds the table. “Even that doesn’t match! The Echo’s gone off five times now, but only four stones!!!”

“I think we can safely draw one conclusion,” Tohsaka says, rubbing her chin.

“Huh?” Taiasu glances up at her. “What’s that?”

“That they involve the Servants. After all, you said it was Archer’s voice you heard when that thing in your head went off tonight, right?”

He nods slowly, and Tohsaka does as well.

“And then the stone that matched his eyes buried into him. It feels too… obvious. It can’t be a coincidence.” She kneads her forehead. “But that’s all we know right now… Whatever they are, I guess all we can do is wait and see how it plays out.”

Taiasu and Tohsaka both heave heavy sighs.

“Sorry…” he mutters. “That wasn’t very helpful, was it… We still don’t know what they do.”

She shakes her head. “Maybe not, but we’re no worse off than we were before, and it’s not as if we don’t have a reasonable idea. Besides that, we did get some useful information.” She smiles warmly. “We know Kuzuki-sensei is a Master, and that Caster is his Servant, so that’s not nothing.”

The small man sighs again, though with a thin, soft smile this time. “Right… Oh, there were two other things… well, one that’s relevant, but I may as well say them both,” he says, staring at the floor. “They’re about the Echo. One is that it guards against tempering… er… that’s what we call it when…” His soft smile quickly falls into a hardened frown.

_Damn it, why do these things always have to be so involved!_

He claps his face with both hands and drags them down. “Alright… Tempering is basically being brainwashed by a Primal, and Primal’s are basically pretend gods that show up from time to time. That’s the shortest explanation I can give. The Echo protects me from that. The other thing is that it lets me speak every language.”

Tohsaka and Emiya’s heads both slam into the floor, while Saber’s reaction is a more subdued expansion of her eyes.

“Y-you can speak every language!?” Tohsaka says, lifting herself up.

Taiasu nods. “You didn’t think it was strange after I told you I was from another planet that I could understand everything you were saying?”

Her mouth hangs slack. “Er… You… You’re right… I mean… Why the hell wouldn’t I have thought that was strange?”

Emiya pulls himself up off the floor. “Maybe we’ve seen too many movies? I mean, you can always understand the aliens, right?”

With the mystery of Taiasu’s linguistic prowess resolved, the atmosphere in the small living space regains a measure of calm for the moment. Emiya collects the cups that have since become bereft of tea while Saber stares in silence at the colored stones still on the table. Tohsaka has her arms folded across her chest as she watches Emiya deposit the teacups into the sink and run some water over them.

“So that’s it for the Echo and what it does, and what we know about those stones,” Taiasu says. “Which isn’t much… Was there something else you wanted to know?”

He looks up at Tohsaka, who glances down at him and nods.

“There is… But we can talk about it on the way.”

“On the way where?” Emiya asks.

“To see the guy who knows about this ‘game’,” Tohsaka says. “You were asking about the reasons behind the Holy Grail War, right, Emiya-kun?”

The boy shuts off the water and dries his hands on a small towel. “I was, yes, but how far are we talking? Isn’t it already really late?”

“It’ll be fine,” she says, smiling. “It’s just over the bridge. We should be back by dawn if we hurry, and it’s fine if we’re up late since it’s Sunday tomorrow.”

“Okay… but that’s not the only problem, is it?” He finishes dying his hands and one of them reaches up toward his jacket, still caked with the dried blood from his near death experience at the end of Lancer’s merciless attack earlier that evening. “I was hoping to rest a bit…”

Tohsaka shrugs. “If you say you’re not going, I won’t force you. What about you, Saber?”

Emiya spins around, frowning. “What’s she have to do with this? You shouldn’t be forcing her, either.”

“Oh, you’re like that already?” Tohsaka says, smirking. “Don’t want me talking to your Servant?”

He shakes his head. “That’s not it! If what you said was true, that she’s from the past, she wouldn’t know about this time, right? Since she was just summoned here?”

“You are mistaken, Shirou,” Saber says coolly. “Servants are able to adapt well to any time to which they are summoned. I am familiar with many things about this time.”

Emiya’s eyes widen. “R-really?”

Taiasu stands from his floor cushions and collects the four stones from the table, depositing them into his waist pouch and sealing it closed as Emiya walks back in from the kitchen.

“Yes,” Saber says. “This is not the first time I have been summoned to this age.”

Both Emiya’s and Tohsaka’s mouths hang slack, and Tohsaka covers her face as her eyes widen.

“What’s the big deal?” Taiasu says, looking between the two of them.

Tohsaka glances down at him. “The big deal is that the chances of that happening are astronomically slim.”

“My having been summoned to this time again is not an issue,” Saber says, staring at Emiya. “What is an issue is your lack of experience. In that, I agree with Rin. Your lack of experience as a Master is a liability. As our contract has bound us, I want to see this corrected.” Her gaze drops a bit as her brows press inward.

Emiya sighs, but smiles softly. “All right, I understand. I’ll go. You said it’s just across the bridge, Tohsaka?”

She nods. Whatever shock she had experienced from learning of Saber’s being summoned twice to this time has faded.

“We’re going to the Kotomine Church, where that fake priest overseeing the conflict is living.”

Taiasu looks up at her. “Fake priest?”

She nods, but says nothing more.

* * *

Taiasu steps outside into the cool, brisk evening air.

_Lot’s happening… I wish I understood half of it…_

He turns as the door swings open behind him, and Tohsaka steps out as well.

“Emiya-kun is getting Saber ready,” she says. “How are you feeling?”

Taiasu shakes his head. “Overwhelmed. I’m used to being in over my head, but this is something on a completely different level.” He smiles up at her. “Would you believe this isn’t my first time in a different world?”

Tohsaka laughs. “Honestly, it doesn’t surprise me to hear that.”

“But it’s my first time on a planet without aether. That’s new and…” He looks hard at the ground and sighs, and his smile weakens. “I’m a little scared by that. It feels like I’m shackled to a bomb that could go off at any minute.”

Tohsaka’s head leans to one side. “How’s that?”

“Well… I mean, one fight against Lancer cost me a hundred sets of crystals,” he says.

“One… hundred? That many?”

He nods. “When I was here, trying to figure out what I was going to do, the thought occurred to me like it did to you. That Lancer might come back…” he says, sighing. “My first foray didn’t go so well… Aether doesn’t dissipate unless it’s used, so I figured, better to be over-prepared, right? But even that wasn’t enough…”

“But you were fighting alone, right?” she says, looking down at him.

“Yeah… That’s usually not the case. I’ve always been supporting others and had their support in turn. And I was never burdened by a ticking clock…”

She rubs her chin. “Well, the way I see it, there are two choices you have,” she says, smiling softly. “The first is to stay out of it, but… well, from what I’ve seen of you in the short time since we’ve met, that seems unlikely.”

Taiasu laughs, shaking his head. “Yeah, that won’t happen.”

“I figured. Then the other option is to not fight alone.”

“Not fight alone…?” he looks up at her. “How can I do that?”

Tohsaka sighs. “What did the old man tell you?”

“About the stones, keeping a low profile, or—!” His eyes widen. “Following Emiya?”

She nods, but Taiasu frowns, looking at the ground.

“But he can’t fight, can he? I mean, Lancer put him down pretty quick, right?”

She sighs again. “No, but it’s not just him anymore, right?”

He looks up at her, and his eyes widen again. “You mean… Fight alongside Saber? But…” He stares back at the ground, and his brow creases. “I don’t… want that,” he says, scuffing his foot.

“Huh?” Tohsaka’s eyebrows lift. “Why not? You don’t like her or something?”

He shakes his head. “No, she’s fine. I mean, we’ve only talked a little, but I can tell. She’s a good person, like…” He swallows hard and smiles sadly. “She’s a good person, like you’re a good person… If I understood anything said in there tonight, it’s that if I fight alongside them…”

He looks up at her with his sad smile.

“It means I’d have to fight against you. I don’t…” He softly shakes his head. “I don’t want that.”

Tohsaka’s eyes widen for a second. “Taiasu…”

“Well, I can’t say I blame you,” she says, leaning over and roughing his head with a grin. “I wouldn’t want to fight us, either!”

“Ah! Stop, you know what I meant!” he says, swatting at her hand.

“You can always join our side, you know,” she says with another soft smile.

Taiasu shakes his head again. “And then I’d have to fight against Emiya and Saber… I don’t… I don’t want that either.” His shoulders slump and he sighs again. “I know it’s dumb to think like that… They’re good people, and you are too. I don’t want to fight good people…”

Their conversation ends with the door opening, and Emiya stepping out with a bright and conspicuous yellow figure behind him.

“Huh? Who’s…!” Taiasu’s head leans to one side to get a better look, and his eyes go full-wide. “… What.”

Behind Emiya stands Saber in a bright yellow raincoat and sharply dissatisfied frown.

“We couldn’t just have her walking around in that armor. She’d draw too much attention,” he says, sighing.

Taiasu’s blank stare traces a path between Saber’s ridiculous raincoat and Emiya’s resigned frown.

“From… who?” he says flatly. “It’s the middle of the night. She’d draw a lot more attention in that.”

Tohsaka sighs as well. “I’d have to agree. Let’s just go. The sooner we’re there, the sooner we can put that ridiculous thing away.”

As the four make their way, Saber’s gaze falls to something lying on the ground. She leans down and lifts it from the ground, contemplating it.

“Saber? What’s that?” Emiya asks.

“I am not sure,” she says.

Taiasu glances up and his eyes widen. “My cape and mantle! I’d forgotten!”

“This is yours?” she asks, turning toward him.

He nods. “I took it off before I fought Lancer.” He grins. “Capes are cool, but they aren’t very practical in a battle.”

Saber smiles and nods, leaning down and extending it to him. He takes it from her and beams as he slides it down over his head and straightens the cape. A dark red cape, flowing down his back and stopping right about his knees, and a mantle that extends out over both his shoulders, also a dark red.

“And it was a gift. In fact, this entire thing…” he says, gesturing to his outfit. “All of it was a gift. I colored it, but the rest was a present from a good friend.”

* * *

Their late evening excursion takes them past the Ryuudou Temple intersection. The streets remain quiet beyond the sound of their soft footsteps, and the soft clanking of Saber’s steel sabatons striking the city street as she walks.

“I hope we can get this done quickly,” Emiya mutters. “It’s not good to be out this late. Especially for girls.”

Tohsaka laughs. “Seriously? I’m pretty sure Saber can take care of herself. And he may be small, but you saw Taiasu handle himself, right? I doubt they’d let anything happen.”

Emiya grumbles something to himself, but offers no further reply.

Taiasu looks up at Tohsaka. “So since we’re going to be walking a while, what was the other thing?”

“Hm?” She looks down at him. “What other thing?”

“When I asked you if there was anything else, you said yes, but we could talk about it on the way, remember?”

“Oh, yeah… With the ridiculous rain coat, I’d forgotten…” she says, glancing at Saber’s gaudy getup. “I was wondering about those other three stones.”

“Huh?” Taiasu’s head leans to the side. “I thought we’d already talked about them as much as we could.”

She sighs. “No, not those… What did you call them? Not the Soulanchor Stones. Those other ones. The ones you were talking about last night?”

“Last night…?” Taiasu stares at the ground for a second, then he pounds his palm. “Oh! The Soul Crystals! I’m okay talking about them, but… I mean, I’d rather not be walking and talking about those. I might lose the tip of my tongue.”

She laughs. “Yeah, I could see that. What about a brief rundown? You said they’re like libraries of knowledge, right?”

“Sorry, what’s this now?” Emiya asks. “Soul Crystals?”

Taiasu reaches into his pack and pulls out one as he walks.

“This is—Ah!”

As he reaches up to show it to Emiya, he stumbles over a fallen tree branch scattered from the tree he’d destroyed earlier that evening, which causes the stone to fall from his grasp and tumble across the ground.

“Ah! Damn it!!” He drops to his hands and knees, searching for the stone in question. “Where the hells did it go!?”

Emiya glances around for a few seconds and spots on the ground a stone colored like granite or burnished steel.

“This what you dropped…?”

The boy bends down and picks it up, and as his hands close around it, his form emits a brilliant shining light, and the surrounding air shakes roughly as the stone opens the generations of knowledge within to him.

Knowledge of ancient Bushido, the code by which the Samurai lived and died. Their practiced and eloquent swordsmanship, the graceful and powerful art they used to fight in their liege’s name in wars and times long gone.

“Emiya!”

“Shirou!”

“Emiya-kun!”

Saber and Tohsaka both shield their gaze from the brief yet brilliant light. Taiasu stumbles backwards, eyes wide as plates.

_What the hells is happening!?_

The light fades, revealing Emiya standing with his arm outstretched, still clutching the stone, and his eyes closed tightly against the brilliant flash of light. Emiya stares down at the stone in his now open palm, which glimmers for a brief second.

“I… I know bushido…?”

Taiasu shakes his head. “Ah… that… that…” He stares from the boy to the stone to the ground, his jaw so slack it hangs a few centimeters from the ground. “That’s… that’s IMPOSSIBLE!!!”

“Taiasu! What happened!?” Tohsaka says as she brings her hands down.

He stands there, eyes gaping and head still shaking. “I… I have no idea! This shouldn’t be possible! It takes time and training to even start attuning with a soul crystal! I’ve never even heard of a person just picking one up and unlocking it!”

“Shirou! Are you unharmed?” Saber takes a few steps toward him, and he nods.

“Yeah… fine. Just… reeling a bit. It feels like a bunch of stuff got shoved into my head and it’s taking some time to sort it out.”

Taiasu kneads his forehead.

_The stone just… opened up to him like that…? What does that even mean? Can he do anything with it? Is it like… book learning, or can he make it practical? Is it even a good idea to try finding out?_

He grinds his hand into his forehead as his mouth quivers rapidly between a concerned frown and a curious grin.

_But… I’m just… I… I have to know. I just…_

He heaves a resigned sigh before his grin wins out. “I don’t understand any of this, but I wonder… Emiya.”

He looks down as Taiasu brings a long, curved blade from his pack.

“Try this.”

He tosses the sword in the sheath to him, and Emiya’s hand flies out as if on reflex, deftly seizing it in his grasp.

He blinks a few times, looking down at it. “Huh…? Try what?”

“That stone contains knowledge, and it just opened itself to you. I’m curious to see if you can actually make use of that knowledge.”

Emiya stares at the sheath for a moment. A sheath of ornate design, the whole is dark purple and decorated with gold etchings that run the length of it, coming to form a dragon’s head at the closed end.

He grips the hilt of the katana contained within and slowly draws it out. The sound of steel sliding across steel as he brings the weapon forth rings softly in the night. The boy stares at the blade, and the hilt, and his eyes widen.

_This is… gorgeous._

The blade is of tempered steel with a violet sheen and gold etchings which run half the length up from the hilt. A hilt also finely adorned in gold etchings.

“What… am I supposed to do with this?”

“For a start, just try swinging it around,” Taiasu says. “Not at anything in particular. Nothing too fancy.”

He stares at the sword for a few more seconds. “Just… swing it around? Like… kendo?”

Taiasu nods again.

Emiya hesitates for a moment, but then shrugs and performs a few rudimentary slashes with the katana. Nothing extraordinary at first, but the more he moves the blade about, the less awkward and clumsy his motions become. After a few minutes, the motions come with grace and fluidity, and soon he’s even performing the more basic Iaijutsu of drawing the sword from the sheath and slashing through the air in front of him.

As Taiasu watches, a warm smile begins to grow.

_This must have been what Master Musosai felt when he saw me doing this…_

“This is… this is incredible!” he says, laughing. “I’ve never even touched a real sword, but this all feels so natural!”

Taiasu nods. “That’s the Soul Crystal,” he says. “You’re benefiting from entire lifetimes’ worth of knowledge… I just wish I knew how, or why…”

Emiya smoothly slides the blade into the sheath and another crisp ring of steel gliding against steel sings into the night. Though panting heavily as he wipes the sweat from his brow, he smiles from ear to ear.

Taiasu looks from the boy toward Tohsaka and finds her leaning against a nearby tree and gazing at the scene as it plays out. Saber stands off to the side, watching intently as well.

He looks from Tohsaka to the ground and frowns.

_I wonder if it’s just the kid, or…_

He reaches into his pack and pulls from it the rose gold colored stone.

“Tohsaka…” he says, and as she looks up, he tosses it to her.

On reflex, her hand flies out, and her fingers close around it.

* * *

The bladed chakram fly from Tohsaka’s grasp, striking a nearby tree, then gliding through the air in a wide arc, returning to her outstretched hands.

Taiasu stands there, head in hand, shaking it with disbelief carved into his every feature.

The moment Tohsaka had closed her hand around the stone, that same light and wind presented around her. He’d handed, rather than tossed, his twin dancer’s chakram to her, and after a few minutes of getting the feel of them, she’s now able to send them out and see them return to her with relative ease.

“I don’t get it,” she says, frowning. “Why the Dancer’s stone?”

Once it had opened to her, it was clear it was the Soul of the Dancer, filled with the knowledge of a distinct martial training meant to bring aid and succor to troubled souls and hearts, and lay low fiends and monsters.

Taiasu sighs heavily. “Honestly? I thought it suited you best… I wasn’t even sure it would work. I can’t wrap my head around it…”

Emiya leans against another nearby tree, catching his breath, while Tohsaka’s narrowed eyes stare at the chakram in her grip.

Both weapons are aesthetically complex in design; a gold-colored ring with a crescent moon and three cut red stones contained within a silver-colored ring with three cut red stones opposite those of the inner ring. When gripped properly, the inner ring folds out half way. Though designed in mind with aesthetics first, it hinders not their functionality.

“Maybe it’s because each of us is a magus?” she says.

Taiasu throws his hands into the air. “Maybe. Hells if I know. Nothing makes sense anymore, but since I can only use one at a time, I figured, why not try it and see what happens, yeah? So how much of it opened to you?”

“I’d need to know how much was there to answer that question. I was never much for dancing, but…” An eager smile plays across her face. “I kind of like the feel.”

“Just take care before you use the finishes, alright?” he says. “They’re really… potent. And they could cause some serious damage if you’re reckless with them.”

“Finishes…?” Tohsaka leans her head to one side, but her eyes widen as she grasps his meaning. “Oh… those…”

Taiasu nods.

Dancers, as with all those who enjoy the benefits proffered by a Soul Crystal, specialize in manipulating aether. Whether that proves true for a being of a world bereft of aether remains to be seen, but two of their most potent demonstrations of this skill are the Standard Step and the Technical Step. Upon completion of a series of graceful and flourishing dance maneuvers, each punctuated by a flashy display of aether being released, they would ‘finish’, resulting in the most powerful burst of destructive aethereal energy that Taiasu had ever seen.

Tohsaka watches him as he sifts through his pack. He looks up at Saber, who stands waiting for them to continue their trip.

“I wouldn’t,” Tohsaka says.

He looks from Saber to Tohsaka, who stands shaking her head.

“I wouldn’t see what happens if you give her one of these,” she says, holding up the Dancer’s stone. “Servants are summoned and sorted by a class system created by the Holy Grail. This is… very similar. If you gave her one, it might shatter her connection to the Grail.”

Taiasu’s eyes widen. “That sounds like it would be… really bad.”

Tohsaka nods. “Catastrophic. Likely, she’d no longer have access to her powers as Saber. At worst, she’d disappear immediately.”

He lets his hand drop from his pack. “Thanks for telling me that. I’d have felt… awful.”

She nods again. “So what happens now? I can’t imagine you’re just going to let us keep these, right?” she says with a short laugh.

Taiasu shakes his head. “Hadn’t planned on it, no. But it’s a good thing to know that we have this as an option.”

Emiya sighs. “Too good to be true…” he says, frowning as he tosses the Samurai Stone back to Taiasu. The second it leaves his hand, he stumbles to one side. Saber rushes forward and catches him before he collapses.

“Whoa… Dizzy…” he mutters, holding his head. “That was… weird.”

“That will take some getting used to.” Taiasu says as he catches the stone mid-air and returns it to his pack. “Some knowledge remains, but it pulls most away when you break your attunement to it. Until you’re accustomed to the feeling, it’s better to sit down before you do that.”

He walks toward Saber and Emiya. “Sorry, but can I ask for my sword back, please?”

Emiya looks down at his hand and finds said sword in his firm grip.

“Ah… yeah,” he murmurs as he passes it into Taiasu’s outstretched hand. “It’s a beautiful weapon…?” His eyes widen as he hands it off.

_Wait… Did it just get smaller…?_

As the sword leaves his grip, he can swear the size of it reduces proportionately to that of the new holder. He shakes his head and rubs his eyes.

“Jeez, this is all so weird…”

Taiasu merely shrugs, returning the sword to his pack.

He looks back at Tohsaka to find her seated on the ground, holding her head, with the rose gold colored Dancer’s Stone on the ground in front of her.

“This must be what a hangover feels like…” she mutters.

Taiasu walks over and collects the Dancer’s Stone, and the two chakram she’d laid beside it.

“It’ll pass,” he says. “I barely feel it anymore, myself.”

She nods.

Emiya glances to his side and finds Saber still holding him up. As his gaze falls to her eyes, his face goes completely red, and he stumbles back two steps.

Her eyebrows arch upward. “Shirou? Is something the matter?”

He shakes his head aggressively. “Nope, nothing wrong. Everything’s great.”

“Well, as fun and interesting as this has been, I think we need to make up for some lost time, yes?” Tohsaka says as she rises to her feet. “If we want to get back before the sun rises, at least.”

Everyone nods in agreement and starts making their way through the darkened city streets in the dead of the early morning.

“So that’s two more,” Tohsaka says to break the silence. “Samurai, Dancer, Monk, Ninja… What was the last one?” she asks.

“Bard,” Taiasu says casually.

“A Minstrel?” Saber says, looking down at him. Tohsaka and Emiya glance at each other, shrugging.

“You mean those guys from forever ago who sang songs and told stories?” Tohsaka asks, and Taiasu nods.

“There’s power in those songs,” he says. “When I learned about it, the one who taught me helped me to understand they would bolster morale, or help the mortally wounded find peace in their last moments.”

Tohsaka’s eyes widen, and Saber nods thoughtfully.

“So does that mean you can write songs yourself?” Emiya asks, looking at him.

Taiasu nods. “Songs, poems. Nothing long or epic, but I’ve drafted a few…” He looks up at him and then stares back at the ground for a few minutes. “For you… I’d say…”

Then he recites what comes to him.

_Youth full of vigor with mane of fire,_

_Know you not, you are her heart’s desire?_

_A delicate beauty yearns for him so,_

_Clear to all, he does not know._

_May their feelings, tried and true_

_Cross the divide with true love’s aim in view._

Emiya stares down at him, eyes wide and face a few shades of red. Tohsaka’s face is split with an enormous, knowing grin. Saber wears a soft smile with her eyes closed as she absorbs the words.


	24. Insipissate

They walk the rest of the trip through town, across the bridge, in a contemplative silence. With Tohsaka guiding, their expedition arrives at a large stone pathway leading to a grand cathedral, at least three stories high, with a large steeple crowning it. Three stained glass windows rest above three archways that lead to the main entrance. The archways find themselves flanked by two additional large, stained glass windows.

Emiya stares up at the church, his eyes widening. "This is… amazing."

Taiasu looks it over and whistles, but then frowns.

_For all the money they put into building that thing, they might have done some actual good with it… At the end of the day, it's a building just like any other._

"I will wait outside," Saber says. Her statement breaks Taiasu from his considerations.

Emiya looks at her, standing in the gaudy yellow raincoat he'd used to conceal her outlandish appearance, and tilts his head. "Why? I can't just leave you out here like that."

She shakes her head. "It is fine. I did not come to go inside. I came as your protection. If this is your destination, you should be going no further, so I shall wait here for your return."

"If you put it that way, then I guess it's okay," Emiya says.

Saber nods. "Please do not let your guard down, regardless of who it is you are facing, Master."

Emiya nods. "We'll be going then." He glances down at Taiasu. "What about you?"

Taiasu shakes his head. "Uh, yeah. Same. I'll wait here," he says. "I know I've pretty well blown the whole 'keeping a low profile' thing, but I should at least pretend that I'm trying."

Emiya and Tohsaka look at each other, nod, and then make their way into the church, their forms receding into the distance until they lose sight of them, their entrance confirmed by the echoing sound of a door closing projecting into the otherwise silent early morning.

"So… you've been to this time before?" Taiasu asks, looking up at Saber.

She nods. "I do not know how much time has passed, but yes."

"It's my first time in this world… So I think you have me at a disadvantage, there," he says, smiling awkwardly.

She arches an eyebrow. "I did not hear the entirety of your circumstances. How did you come to be here?"

Five minutes pass as Taiasu explains the details. Saber remains in quiet contemplation, her expression remaining steady throughout his story.

"After the transference, I almost died. I didn't understand why, but if I'd not been in such a panic throwing everything out of my pack like I was, I'd never have grabbed that crystal shard."

"So this man, this Watcher as he calls himself, asked you here?" Saber asks, and Taiasu nods.

"I've accepted strange requests before. This one wasn't much different…. Well, it was in one way." He frowns. "He never made an explicit request beyond my coming here. I think that intrigued me the most."

Saber's head leans ever so slightly to one side. "You did not know it was to an entirely different world he was sending you?" she asks, and he shakes his head. Her eyes narrow slightly. "I imagine it would take a great deal of power to send one so far."

Taiasu nods. "It's happened before… When the… oh man, this is going to be a long story…"

Saber smiles and nods. "I do not know how long we have, but please go ahead with it."

His eyes widen. "Really? I'm not even sure where to start, but I guess it would be with the Crystal Exarch, and how he botched pulling me into that world." He sighs, rubbing his forehead. "Five separate times."

"And who is the Crystal Exarch?" Saber asks.

"He's… well, he was the leader of The Crystarium. We'd met before, but he was a different person… He was G'raha Tia then… but that's an entirely different story." He sighs. "And I'm already off course. He failed to bring me to his world five times, and each time he ended up incapacitating one of my friends, so five in total. Then I was in the right place and the right time, and he brought me over…" Taiasu nods, but then stops and looks up from the ground "Wait… That's odd."

Saber looks down at him. "What is odd?"

He presses his chin as his head tilts to one side. "I guess it's not that long of a story. That's what's odd. I'm leaving a lot out, though. Mostly because the explanation's explanations would require explaining. Before, I was talking about the way the old man sent me here. The way Watcher did it was much different. He wasn't calling me away. He was sending me someplace else. So it's not inconceivable he'd have the power needed for something like that. Even so, he didn't seem like a bad person. Just odd. Odd and sad, beneath that veneer he put on…" He looks up at her. "So what about you? You're from the past?"

She nods. "I am."

His eyes widen and shine. "So how did you get pulled into the here and now? I couldn't follow everything Tohsaka was saying, but it sounds like you have to be pretty special for that to happen."

Saber's gaze drops. "I was… a leader among my people," she says, her voice sounding sad. "I worked hard for their betterment, but in the end I failed them."

"Ah…" Taiasu frowns sadly. "I'm sorry… I didn't mean to ask you something that would upset you."

She shakes her head. "No, it is alright. I am working hard even now to correct that mistake."

His eyes widen again. "You can fix your mistake in the past from here? How does that work?"

Saber's expression lifts slightly. "We can, yes. If we win this conflict, the Holy Grail will make it possible for me to do so."

"So you're going to use it for that, then…" He grins broadly, and she glances down at him.

Her head leans to one side, again just slightly so. "What?"

"I was talking to Tohsaka earlier about some concerns of mine…" He stifles a yawn and stretches for a few seconds before continuing. "She made a few suggestions, and one was that I could fight alongside you and Emiya."

Her eyes narrow slightly, but she waits for him to continue.

"I didn't want to… I mean, I still don't." Her eyes narrow further, and he waves his hands. "No, it's not what you think! At least, I don't think it is…" His smile dips into a sad frown. "I didn't want to because it means I'd have to fight against her… She's a good person. I told her I didn't want to fight on her side either, because I could tell you were a good person, too. What you said just made me think of that, is all. Before I just felt you were a good person, but now I know it."

Her eyes cease their narrowing. "What makes you say that?"

"Well, if you have something powerful enough to effect a change in the past, it must be able to do other things, right?" he says, grinning again. "But you're going to use it to help people, so you have to be a good person!"

Her eyes widen just slightly for a moment before her mouth closes in a soft smile. "I… think you may be too quick to rush to judgement."

He shrugs. "Maybe. But I still think it's true. And I still don't want to fight you. Or Tohsaka. Or Emiya…" His grin cools to a smirk and his eyes half-narrow. "Archer, I could take or leave."

* * *

The door closes softly behind the two, cutting them off from the outside world. Emiya glances around the inside, taking in his new surroundings. Four rows of eight well-constructed pews occupy most of the floor, with enough space between each row for a single person to walk comfortably, or two to walk shoulder to shoulder.

The floor is comprised of a well-polished, yet generic wood composite. To the back of the main area on the right side rests an ornamental simple piano for the music doubtlessly played when people gather here.

Now is not one of those times, as the pews all sit empty.

Centered in the back is the pulpit behind which the one giving the sermon stands, though right now it too is vacant, and behind the pulpit rests a modest altar constructed of a simple wood composite. The raised platform upon which both rest is adorned in a plain red carpet. To the left and the right of the altar are passageways leading into the back of the church.

Considering the grand exterior, the inside is quite modest.

"So what sort of person is this priest, Tohsaka?" Emiya asks, still glancing around.

"The kind whose hard to read," she says. "I've known him for ten years, but I still haven't got him figured out."

"Ten years? Is he a relative of yours or something?"

Tohsaka shakes her head. "Not my relative, no, but he is my guardian, my senior as an apprentice, and my second teacher."

"Senior…?" Emiya's spins to look at her. "Wait, he's a magus!?"

Tohsaka nods, her head leaning slightly. "What's so surprising?"

"That he's a priest, that's what! Aren't they forbidden from using magic!?" He looks at the floor "Are you sure he's on our side?"

"Well, he's the one supervising the war," she says, brushing her hair from her shoulder. "That means he has to at least be neutral." Her footsteps echo softly as she approaches the altar at the back.

Emiya sighs. "So what's this guy's name?" he asks.

Tohsaka turns, looking at him with a frown. "Kotomine Kirei, a student of my father. We've had a… storied relationship for the past decade, but if I was being honest, I'd say I wish I'd never met the man."

"—The feeling is not yours alone." A voice cuts into their discussion. "After all, what teacher would desire such a disrespectful apprentice."

A man, tall and garbed in a deep blue priests robe covering his black dress shirt which rests untucked over his black dress slacks steps out from the left of the two passages flanking the altar, his black and polished dress shoes moving smoothly across the red carpet. His brown, rough cut hair is worn above his ears, but mid-length in the back, and matches the brown color of his eyes. Across his chest rests a simple golden cross, affixed to a plain gold necklace.

He merely stares from Tohsaka to Emiya with a shallow smirk. "So what, Rin? You refuse to respond to my phone calls, and then you just show up with some strange guest? Am I to understand this is the seventh?"

Tohsaka folds her arms and frowns, but nods. "He's a magus, but inexperienced. I couldn't just let him be. Your made up rules say to report here when one becomes a Master, right? I'll respect them this time, but just for that reason."

The man keeps his focus on Tohsaka, but he glances toward Emiya at the same time. "I must give this young man my thanks." He slowly shifts his stance until he's turned fully toward the boy.

Emiya takes a half-step back.

_What's with this guy…?_

The man introduces himself. "I am Kotomine Kirei, the one entrusted with this church. What is your name, seventh Master?"

The boy glares at him. "—Emiya Shirou, but I haven't agreed to this 'Master' business yet."

The priest turns his head, his mouth turning slowly upward in a cold smile that sends a chill up the boy's spine.

"Emiya—Shirou." He speaks the name as if enjoying the flavor of it as he turns his attention back. "As I said, I must thank you. Were it not for you, Rin never would have stepped foot in this place." He turns slowly and makes his way to the Altar in the back.

Tohsaka walks around him and stands next to Emiya.

"Time is fleeting, so let us begin. Emiya Shirou, you are Saber's Master, yes?"

Emiya shakes his head. "That's not… entirely correct. We summoned Saber when we were under attack, and I made a contract with her, but I'm still in the dark about this Master and Holy Grail War business." He continues to glare at the priest. "If a Master should be a proper magus, you should pick someone more suitable, right?"

The man looks away, and his smirk shifts subtly. "So he really knows nothing, Rin?"

She nods, brushing her hair back again. "That's what I said. Start from the beginning and talk slow. You're good at that, right?"

The priest laughs softly. "So that is how it is? It seems I am doubly indebted to you, Emiya Shirou. Not only have you brought her here, but you have also made her dependent upon me for the first time in her life."

The boy frowns.

_I… really don't like this guy._

The laughter stops and the priest stares from Tohsaka back to Emiya.

"First, we should correct your misunderstanding. Master is not something which can be passed on to another person, and it is not the title of some job that you can quit."

Emiya's hands tighten briefly. "—Why can't I quit?"

The priest points to Emiya's left hand. "For that reason. Those Command Spells. This is a trial, and you cannot escape just because you find it inconvenient. Your only choice is to walk this path until you obtain the Holy Grail, Emiya Shirou." The priest's smile drops, and his stare becomes like ice. "If you obtain the Grail, and wish for it, it can be as if you had never even been selected as a Master. Even that is possible. It can grant anything you desire. Starting over, healing whatever trauma you may have suffered in your past, anything. Why would you not desire such a thing?"

Emiya's eyes narrow slightly.

_Nothing this guy says makes any sense…_

"Stay on topic, Kirei." Tohsaka says, frowning. "I asked you to explain the rules to him, not tear open his old emotional scars."

The boy glances up at her. "—Tohsaka?"

"I was merely trying to seal his moral compass," the man says with an icy smirk. "Trying to explain the rules of this conflict to such an upstanding individual would otherwise be a waste of time. But let us then return to the topic at hand, Emiya Shirou."

He turns his gaze from Tohsaka back to Emiya again.

"This conflict into which you have been pulled is called the 'Holy Grail War'. I am guessing that Rin has informed you of the overarching particulars? Seven Maters, Seven Servants, and so forth?"

Emiya nods. "Yes. Tohsaka told me something ridiculous like seven Masters have to kill each other, is that right?"

Kotomine's smile widens, but remains ice cold. "That is the short of it, but it is not as if we do this because we enjoy it. It is part of a ritual to determine who is most suited to claim the Holy Grail." He chuckles softly.

"Wait, you keep saying 'Holy Grail' and 'Holy Grail War', but this thing can't possibly be the actual Holy Grail, right?"

Kotomine laughs. "Is there a difference? The Holy Grail that appears in this town has power proved beyond doubt. Just look to your Servant. Summoning and controlling heroes from times long gone, a miracle as close to a true resurrection as has ever occurred. Something with that much power would grant to its owner unlimited power. Whether it is the genuine article is irrelevant."

Emiya's gaze drops to the floor.

_So he's saying it doesn't matter if it's the real thing since it's so powerful…_

He glares back up at the priest. "Fine. Assuming this thing is what you say, why the War? Shouldn't we just share the power?"

The man's smile warms not a single degree as he glances downward. "Would that it could be so. Only a single person can lay claim to the Grail. We did not choose this to be the case, but the Holy Grail it decided it for itself." He looks back up at the boy. "It decides for itself the seven Masters and makes possible the summoning of the seven Servants, then makes them fight to determine who is worthy of its power."

The boy's gaze shifts to his left hand, and the marking on the back of it. "Sorry. I'm still not convinced yet. Even if only one person can claim it, I'm not loving the idea of going around killing everyone else involved."

"Hold on, I think you're misunderstanding something, Emiya-kun," Tohsaka says, and Emiya looks from his hand up to her. "There's no need for us to be killing each other."

His eyes widen. "Sorry, what? Didn't you say that was the case?" He looks back at the priest. "He said it too, so which is it?"

The man laughs. "You will kill each other."

Tohsaka glares at the priest.

"Shut up, faker," she says, scowling before turning her attention back to Emiya. "The Holy Grail in this town exists without physical form as a spirit based object. We have to materialize it." Her angry scowl fades as she continues her explanation. "We can call for it, but we can't touch it since it exists in spirit form. Do you understand?"

Emiya nods. "Yeah, that means only spirits can touch—Oh, I understand! That's why you need the Servants!"

Tohsaka nods. "The goal is to remove the Servants from play. There's nothing that says we have to kill each other, or the other Masters."

Emiya smiles and heaves a tremendous sigh.

_She could have said that sooner…_

His gaze drops like to the floor like a lead weight.

_So even if we do get involved, it's not like Tohsaka's going to die, right?_

"That certainly is… an… approach."

Emiya's gaze hardens, and he glares at the priest, standing before him with an icy smirk.

"But let me ask you this, Emiya Shirou—Do you believe you can beat your own Servant? Do you think yourself superior to your Servant?"

Emiya's head leans slightly.

_What? Me beat Saber? No way. If she's like that guy in blue, that Lancer person, or Tohsaka's servant, or even that small guy out there…!_

His eyes widen, and the man's frigid smirk widens proportionately.

"Seems you understand. As a Servant would be difficult to defeat, what would any sane person do? The answer is simple." He snaps his fingers. "Cut the anchor. A Servant cannot exist in this world without their Master. Take that away, and the Servant will disappear."

The boy's eyes narrow.

_That's true… Any rational person wouldn't choose such a hard course as trying to destroy something so powerful. The obvious choice is the weakest link._

Emiya groans out a frustrated sigh. "I understand what you're saying. But if the Servant is eliminated, then the Master isn't a Master anymore, right? Since only a Servant can touch the Grail, that means the Master is effectively eliminated."

The man's smirk widens subtly into a chilled grin. "Naïve child. A Servant does not vanish immediately, just because you cut their anchor. As long as one possesses even a single Command Spell, they can form a contract with any remaining Servant and re-enter the conflict. For this reason, the most efficient course is to do away with every Master. Any left remaining could become a future impediment."

The boy grinds his teeth. "So what about those Command Spells then? If they're exhausted, then no way future contracts can be formed, right? And the Servant is free to form a contract with someone else?"

"Wait, that's—"

"Yes, you're right." The priest interjects Tohsaka's objection, causing her to frown. "If you exhaust your Command Spell, it will strip your mantle as Master from you." He laughs. "Though if such a magus exists, he would be a fool, and a coward, and one I have yet to meet."

Emiya frowns sharply.

_Of course he knew what I was thinking… No, I don't just dislike this guy._

He glares at the priest.

_I loathe him._

"Since you seem to understand that now as well, we will continue. Specifically, do you still wish to abdicate and withdraw? If you choose to do so, the church will afford you protection until the conflict concludes."

"Huh?" Emiya's hardened glare falters. "Why would you have to do that? I can look after myself."

The priest sighs. "Because it's among the rules. I have been dispatched to supervise the repeating Holy Grail War. Part of that involves reducing the number of victims as much as possible, and that includes guarding magi who have lost their claim as Master."

The boy's glare falters again. "Wait, repeating? So how many times has happened then? This isn't the first time?"

Kotomine laughs again, dropping the temperature of the room another few degrees. "Of course not. Would a supervisor really be necessary if this were the first?" the man says, his frigid smirk dropping to a frosty scowl. "The church holds an obligation to investigate religious relics. Here, that includes this so-called Holy Grail. This will be the seven hundred and twenty-sixth such investigation. If it is real, we will claim it, and if it is not, we will dispute it."

Emiya's stony countenance crumbles. "Seven hundred twenty-six… That many?"

"That we know of," the priest says. "That seemed like they could be it. And one of those is the one that appears here during this conflict. Based on what we know, the first appearance was some two hundred years ago, and then again every fifty years. This will be the fifth, though only ten years have passed since the last, making it something of an aberration."

The boy's jaw slacks. "Wait, four times? Are you all insane?!"

The man frowns. "We are alike in our feelings in this way, at least. And yes, that many times. The past conflicts were tragic. Masters driven by their basest desires, forgetting their teachings, murdering with wanton disregard." He sighs again. "I imagine you know the highest law among magi is that no magic be performed in public. Masters in the past have flagrantly violated this law. For that reason, the Magic Association dispatched a supervisor to reign things in. Unfortunately, they were only able to make it in time for the third war. The one sent at that time was my father. Do you understand, boy?"

"Yeah, I get it," Emiya says, nodding. "We need a supervisor. But it sounds like this entire thing is flawed on a fundamental level."

"How so?"

"Well, in the past magi would violate the rules they set forth, right? So if this thing, this Holy Grail, exists, what happens if someone like that gets their hands on it? Someone who doesn't care who lives or dies? Shouldn't you guys be working to stop that sort of thing?"

The priest laughs again. "That is not our concern. Our only concern is to supervise the conflict and enforce the rules. We care not what happens afterward."

Emiya's glare hardens. "So what happens if the worst guy possible gets his hands on it?!"

"It would be a problem, yes. But there is nothing we can do. The Grail selects its owner, and we do not have the power to change that. Whoever claims it has the power to do with it as they please. But of course, if you do not wish to see that happen, all you need do is claim it for yourself. I think that is the best idea, don't you?"

"That's none of your business," he says, through clenched teeth. "I don't have any reason to fight. I'm not interested in the Grail, and whatever you say, I don't feel like one of these Masters."

"Hm. So it doesn't concern you at all, then? Even if it leads to another disaster?"

Emiya bristles against his words, but can offer no reply.

"Even another disaster, like what happened ten years ago?"

His face goes pale. "—Ten years… ago?"

Kotomine nods. "At the end of the last, someone unsuited claimed the Holy Grail. Whatever their wish was, it resulted in the disaster that came afterward."

The boy's face pales further and his eyes go blank.

_Ten years… a disaster…?_

Images of the horrific firestorm burn within his mind.

"—You're.. You can't be…"

"So you do know of it. After all, everyone does. Yes. That raging inferno that left five hundred dead or maimed and reduced a hundred and thirty-four buildings to not but smoldering ash heaps. Unexplained by the authorities, this was the result of the conclusion of the last conflict." Kotomine's words come out cold and indifferent.

Emiya's vision blurs, and his hand covers his mouth as his stomach churns. He stumbles backward, but manages to catch himself. He grinds his teeth hard against each other as he lowers his hand and glares back at the priest, who meets his gaze with a frigid stare.

"Emiya-kun?" Tohsaka regards him with serious concern. "What happened? I know it's a difficult story… Do you need to take a rest?"

He looks over at her, and her expression causes him to smile softly. "No… I'm alright now after seeing you like that."

"Hey, just what is that supposed to mean?" she says, frowning.

"Just that I was glad you were worried for me. Nothing else."

"Just… that, hey who was worried, you jerk!" She smacks the back of his head.

"Hey, please be nicer, alright? But I mean that, it did help. Thanks. I just have a few more questions to ask."

He turns his attention from the girl, who stands frowning with her arms folded to the priest who stands arms relaxed at his sides. "Still more questions? Say what you have to say then."

"Fine," Emiya says, nodding. "You said this is the fifth war? Has anyone ever obtained the Grail?"

The priest laughs. "Of course. What happened before is not the norm. But do not misunderstand. It is a simple thing to obtain the vessel. It is, after all, managed by the church. If you speak of something so mundane, I touch it each and every day. The vessel is empty. It is the contents that matter, and they exist in spirit form, as Rin said."

She huffs, turning away from the priest.

"What we maintain is a replica used as a catalyst to draw forth the genuine article, similar in a way to the relationship between Master and Servant. One person actually was successful in obtaining the grail, using this method."

Emiya's eyes widen subtly. "So what happened to that guy?"

Kotomine frowns. "Nothing. It was the imperfect result of a foolish man's sentimental ambitions." His eyes narrow softly. "Making it appear is easy. Once the Servants are present, it will happen. It is as Rin says, in that there is no need to kill the other Masters. But choosing such a course will result in failure. It selects its own master. For that reason, it could not be obtained by one who refuses to fight."

Tohsaka scoffs and turns to glare at the priest. "So it's useless to try claiming it without settling things with the others Masters. The one who got it in the last war was a coward. He ran, saying he didn't want to fight." She finishes speaking and turns her back to him again.

"—No way," Emiya mutters.

_It was him…? It was this guy? Kotomine?_

"You? Kotomine, you didn't fight?"

His frigid demeanor returns. "I did. Until halfway. I made a stupid decision and obtained an empty vessel. I was the first to be eliminated. The other Masters were monsters, and I lost my Servant and was taken in under my father's protection. It was improper for the son of the supervisor to be selected as a Master. Father died shortly after, and I have been selected into his role." He turns his back to the doors, and to Emiya and Tohsaka.

"With that, I believe our discussion is concluded. I need an answer from you. Will you participate in this battle, or will you abdicate and withdraw?"

Emiya frowns sharply, staring at the floor for a few seconds, clenching and relaxing his hands a few times. He glances from the floor to the girl, to the priest, and then nods firmly.

"I'll fight. I can't let something like what happened… I can't let that happen again."

_I can't let someone else suffer like that._

The priest smiles, but in this instance it's, not the icy smile he'd been wearing over and over again. There's something more sincere behind this smile.

"Then I will approve you as Saber's Mater, and with that the Holy Grail War begins."

Tohsaka smiles as he brushes her hair back again. "So that's it then. I'll be heading home, but before that I have a question for you, Kirei."

The priest turns to look at her. "It may be the last time, so I will answer if I am able. Ask your question."

Her smile broadens. "If you're in charge, you should have information on the other Masters. I've followed the rules the association set out, so tell me what you know about that, at least."

"Would that I could, but I do not have all the details," he says, smirking. "With this boy included, there are few legitimate magi this time. There are only two I know of, though three if you include Emiya Shirou here."

Her smile fades into a soft frown. "Then you should know the order, at least? The order in which they were summoned? If you're the supervisor?"

He nods. "Berserker was first. Then Caster. Archer was yesterday, and Saber just a few hours prior."

"I see. So that means all seven, right?"

"Yes. The Holy Grail War has officially started. Rin, you are not allowed to come to the church until the conflict has finished. With one exception."

"When I lose my Servant, right? So any other reason is a loss in points. I know," she says, smirking.

"Correct. Even if you become victor, the church will not ignore lost points. After a long, boring discussion, they would strip the Grail from you, which would be the worst-case scenario for me."

Her smirk fades. "Fake priest. A person on the side of the Church, yet also supporting the Magic Association?"

"I serve God. That does not mean I serve the church."

"Whatever, you fake." With her parting remark, she turns her back to the priest and makes for the exit.

"Hold on, is it really okay?" Emiya says, turning as well. "I mean, he was your fellow pupil, right?"

She shakes her head, and her hair tussles, falling back over her shoulder.

"I don't care. I'm glad to be rid of him. You should leave as well, since your business here is finished."

Emiya sighs and follows after her, but then stops and spins around.

"What, something else to say?" he says to the priest staring down at him.

Kotomine smirks, looking down and away.

"If you have nothing to say, I'm leaving." Emiya turns to leave again.

"—Rejoice, boy. Your wish will finally come true."

He stops. "—What are you saying?"

"You know the desire of your heart. It is impossible without a clear and present evil. After all…" He leans down. "What is a superhero, without a villain?"

The boy glares at him. "You…"

Kotomine turns and starts walking toward the altar at the back.

"Farewell, Emiya Shirou. As a final parting gift, I give you this warning; Take care on your way home. Your world will change completely now. As a Master, for you it is now kill or be killed."

The doors close and the man's words echo within the boy's mind.

* * *

"Hmm hmm…" Another voice echoes throughout the chapel.

Kotomine turns toward it in time to catch the tail end of the fading dark sphere, and the form stepping out of it.

"Are you always so long winded? I thought I was going to die of boredom, listening to you blather on about so much stuff I never even knew I didn't even care about."

Kotomine stands head and shoulders above the figure in his church, but says nothing.

"So that was the boy, then? And the girl. This is proving more interesting than I could have hoped." The figure, a man clad in a modest light gray cloak, the hood of which conceals his features in shadow, stands at the leftmost side of the chapel. The cloak is drawn closed, hiding the rest of his attire from view.

"You were listening to the entire conversation, then?" Kotomine says, scowling.

The cloaked figure laughs. "I believe that was implied. Do you always draw such visceral satisfaction from tormenting children? I thought I was about to start weeping for the poor child."

The priest scoffs. "No such thing. Nothing in life brings me joy. Interest, yes, but never joy."

"What a sad existence…"

"What is your business here?"

The figure seats himself in one of the many free pews, stretching out leisurely. "Merely to see the faces of the players. Our agreement still stands, I trust?"

The priest nods. "I will see the Grail for what it is, and then you will get to claim it for your own ends."

"Good. I'm glad we understand each other. And I will work to make sure that it happens as it should." The figure's smile rings clear in his voice. "Then, once this… Holy Grail, as you call it, manifests itself, you'll have a front-row seat."

"What is it you intend to do with it once you have claimed it?" Kotomine asks coldly.

"Well, it's not for me to say," the shrouded figure says, shrugging. "After all, my coming here was contingent on claiming it for my brethren."

"What was your purpose in coming here, if not solely for the Grail?"

The figure laughs again. "Well, I had three actually. One is very personal, but what sort of partner would I be if I hid the entirety from you, yes?"

He flips over, staring at the priest. A hint of a red mask peaks out from under the hood, causing the priest's eyes to widen subtly.

"One!" he says with dramatic flair. "To handle a certain… impediment. Yes, my brothers and sisters and I… well, mostly my brothers, have lost quite a number to that small man's insipid interference."

"And the other?" Kotomine asks, restoring his cool demeanor.

"Ah yes, the other… Well, while you have your God, we have ours, and we mean to see him restored to us!" the shrouded figure says, clapping excitedly. "By any means necessary. It's quite a long story, and I wouldn't want to bore you. Even if the Grail falls short of your lofty proclamations, at the very least, that wretched Warrior of Light will be out of our way, and we can commence the rejoining and the restoration of Zodiark at our leisure." The figure sighs contentedly. "Just as we've all wanted for so long…"

"And you believe the Grail can do this?"

The figure shrugs again. "Like I said, if not, we'll have lost nothing. My brethren will welcome me with open arms for finally relieving them of the thorn that has long plagued them. And I will finally be able to live again, free from the weight that burdens me so…"

"Weight?"

"Ah!" The figure clasps his mouth under the hood. "Dear me, I forget myself. That is my business."

"You like to speak a lot, but you don't say much, do you… What even am I supposed to call you?"

The figure tilts his head to one side, before gasping in an exaggerated fashion. "Ah, please forgive me! For all our dealings, I have failed to properly introduce myself!" He leaps from the pew and strolls over to the tall priest. "You may address me as Sobervre," he says, bowing low. As he stands, his hand passes over his shrouded countenance, and a brief yet telling red glowing translucent sigil floats just beyond the dark space of the hood hiding his face.

"Ascian Sobervre."

"Ascian." The man looks down at him coldly. "Not a name with which I'm familiar."

"Oh, but you are familiar with Sobervre? That makes me excited! Yes, so very excited!" he says giddily. "Yes, so very much so! I trust by the time we've finished manipulating one another, we'll have discovered we have much in common!"

The priest's eyebrows arch subtly, and the Ascian again claps his hands over his shrouded face. "Whoops! I believe I said the quiet part out loud!"

The priest chuckles. "What interesting company I've chosen to keep."


	25. Own Side

The sound of the church main entrance doors swinging closed echoes softly through the early morning air. Taiasu glances toward the source of the sound to find Tohsaka storming toward the gated entrance to the church grounds, her long red dress coat catching in the soft morning wind.

"How'd it go?" he asks.

She answers with little but a heaving sigh and a frustrated grunt as she leans against one of the gate pillars. Taiasu shrugs and stretches, fighting back another yawn. A minute later, the same sound echoes again. As he glances up, he can make out Emiya coming through the center arch, shoulders lifting and then dropping in a pronounced sigh before he marches forward to meet the three. The boy glances up at them and his frustrated expression fades, his eyebrows returning to their relaxed position and his face turning up in a soft smile.

As he approaches, Tohsaka turns toward the gate and motions with her hand. "We're heading the same direction, so we can at least walk together part way," she says coolly. With only that, she strides through the gated entrance. Emiya and Saber, still in her bright yellow slicker, follow behind, and Taiasu stays close at their back, the varying shades of his read leathers reflecting the ambient light, and his cape fluttering gently in the morning breeze.

"So, what happened?" Taiasu asks Emiya this time, who sighs again in response.

"A lot… I really don't like that guy," he says, frowning.

Tohsaka smirks. "Yeah, he's great at picking apart old wounds. Let's just say there was no love lost here."

"What did you guys talk about?" Taiasu asks, looking from Tohsaka to Emiya and back again. "You were in there for a while. I was afraid I might actually fall asleep."

"What did we talk about…?" Emiya frowns, staring at the ground. "He talked a lot about nothing. The history of this stupid conflict, the Church, the need for overseers, but really the only thing that he talked about that mattered was…" His sentence ends unfinished as his voice trails off and he sighs, glancing up at Tohsaka. "Basically, I've agreed to take part in this stupid war."

"If it's stupid, why would you agree?" Taiasu asks.

"That man in there told me about the last time this happened. Apparently, this is the fifth one, and the last one ended in tragedy, with many people hurt or killed. And it wasn't…" His voice trails off again.

The scene again plays in the boy's mind. A raging, all-consuming inferno, sucking oxygen from the air, burning the lungs of those fortunate few still capable of trying to draw breath. And him, on the ground, moments from death with the sad face of a man looking down at him, and saving his life by some means he can't even remember.

_If that was the result… I can't just stand by and do nothing and let something like that happen again._

"So… you're going to fight to prevent a calamity?" Taiasu looks up, smiling softly. "That's… pretty noble."

The boy glances down at him and shrugs. "I mean, I guess? It just wouldn't sit well with me if I did nothing and something bad happened, you know?"

The small man nods sharply, grinning.

_He's a good person, too. There are a lot of good people…_

"What happens now? It sounds like you've got it figured out, right?" he asks.

Emiya sighs again. "I have no clue… I feel like I'm taking a test I didn't study for, and that I forgot I even had… I understand the particulars, but I still have no idea what to even do."

They descend the hill from the church in relative silence. The street is quiet, and the only light besides the stars and moon is that of a few standing lamps on one side of the street, and a few hanging lamps on the other. The side of the street with the hanging lamps has several trees planted alongside the road.

"I wonder what I'm going to do… I still want to help, but I feel the same. And you have Saber now, right? Maybe I should…" He glances up at Tohsaka. "Maybe I should just hang around with you? I mean, Archer's out of commission, right? I still feel bad for that… The least I can do is try keeping you safe until he's recovered…"

Tohsaka glances down at him as the four of them walk in a close group. "I don't think that's necessary," she says, shaking her head.

"But he can't fight right now, right? He's still recovering, right?"

Tohsaka nods. "It will be fine. My house is pretty well defended, and he should be alright in a couple of days."

Taiasu frowns. "I still don't like it. I feel like I owe you. A lot…"

She smirks. "I'll say. You owe me a great deal from both that silver light, and the gemstones I had to sacrifice for summoning Saber."

"Then let me make it right!" he says, looking up at her again. "If I owe you, let me repay you. I mean, I still have all those spent crystals, right? You were looking at them like you wanted to eat them!"

Tohsaka goes a shade of red, and Emiya glances between the two.

"Eat… the crystals?"

She sighs heavily. "No, not eat them. I discovered something about them…" she says, pulling one of the spent shards from inside her red coat.

She winces as she bites into the tip of her finger, and a small shining drop of blood falls to the surface of the spent shard. Immediately, the shard glows softly, gently illuminating their dimly lit surroundings. The color shifts like the cluster before; crimson, amber, silver, and lapis.

"See?"

Emiya's eyes widen, but his head shakes slowly. "Yeah… but I don't understand."

She sighs, sucks the end of her finger for a moment, and shakes it before checking to see that the minor wound has closed.

"Right, you wouldn't know. I use gemstones to store magical energy, but it takes time and they're expensive. But this guy…" she stares at the small man as they continue on their way. "He has so many of these things I can't even count, and they suck up magical energy like a sponge."

"But you have to… bleed on them?" Emiya says, shuddering.

Tohsaka nods.

"Do you?" Taiasu asks. "I mean, I remember what you said with the last one. The one you blew up?"

Tohsaka looks down at him, her red dress coat catching a bit of wind and shifting slightly as they approach the bridge between the two cities.

"What about it?"

"Well… didn't you say it was like… An over charge or something? You said you'd just pushed some of your own magical energy into it and it… blew up?"

"You seem to have an affinity for destruction," Saber says, frowning at him.

"It wasn't my idea!" he says, huffing. "I was against it, but she… Never mind that. Why not just do that instead? Then you won't have to bleed on them, right?"

"Just… channel into them…?" She looks at the crystal glowing softly in her hand, then at the man walking knee-height beside her, and she shakes her head. "Why didn't I think of that?"

She holds the stone in her left hand and an intricate series of indecipherable blue symbols and sigils encircle her arm with a soft blue glow as she extends and directs it over the water. The light within the crystal intensifies, and after a few seconds, it shatters. Again, like last time, she focuses her magical energy into a directed shield, projecting the rainbow-colored blast wave outward and upward to spare the bridge. It lights up the surrounding night as it extends over the water. The back-blasting shockwave flares her long hair and coat behind her.

Emiya's eyes widen like plates, and Saber's eyes widen as well. Most surprising is Tohsaka's reaction, with her jaw hanging and her eyes larger than the both of theirs. Remembering herself, she closes her mouth and forces her eyes back to normal.

"That… that's impossible…" she murmurs, looking at her hand as the blue sigils and symbols around her left arm fade, and a few fragments of crystal dust fall from her hand onto the bridge.

"What's, impossible?" Taiasu asks, bringing his arms down from protecting his face.

"That… It shouldn't have done that," she says, closing her hand. "I didn't put that much into it. That's impossible."

"I don't understand?"

She frowns and kneads her forehead.

_How can I explain this…?_

"Okay, let's walk while I work this out…"

Saber sighs softly. "That is some affinity for destruction."

"Imagine a glass," Tohsaka says as they finish crossing the bridge. "I fill it about halfway with water and then pour that water out. How much would you expect to come out?"

Emiya's head leans to one side. "Um… Is that a trick question? A half a glass of water, right?"

Tohsaka nods. "Yes, exactly. But in this case, the water is my magical energy, and the glass was…" She pulls from her coat another spent crystal shard. "This. This is the glass. I poured in a half a cup, but what I got out was a gallon… That shouldn't be possible."

"Isn't what you're saying wrong, though?" Taiasu asks.

Tohsaka glances down at him. "How so?"

"Well… I mean, if I'm understanding, you're comparing that to a glass, but it's not a glass, is it?" he says, looking up at her. "I mean, I keep saying I'm no authority, but I've used glasses before, and that's not a glass."

"It was just an… example…?" Her voice trails as she stares at the shard in her hand. "No… maybe you're right… All I know about these things is they soak up and hold magical energy like a sponge… I thought they were like capacitors… but maybe they act as amplifiers?" She chews her lip, staring at the crystal shard. "I'll… need a more controlled environment. I wonder how much they can hold, and how much they output relative to the input…"

She slides the crystal shard back into her jacket and sighs.

_I wish I had the energy to be excited about this…_

They walk the rest of the trip to the Ryuudou Temple intersection in silence. On reaching the intersection, Tohsaka speaks first.

"I've helped you out all I can. I'd say you owe me a lot between helping you summon Saber and getting you up to speed. From here on, we're enemies, so you shouldn't expect any mercy from me," she says, frowning softly. "If we both make it through this in one piece, I'll be coming to collect that debt."

Emiya stares hard at the ground as several thoughts flash through his mind in quick succession.

_She wasn't under any obligation to help me… She was just trying to help make things even. Guess she figures it'd be difficult to treat me as an enemy if things kept going like this… But she knew all of that, and still helped me anyway, which means…_

He looks up and smiles at her. "I knew you were a good person."

She folds her arms and stares at him, frowning slightly. "What are you even saying? I won't be going easy on you, even if you talk like that."

Emiya nods. "I know. But I don't want to fight if I can help it. I like people like you."

Her mouth hangs slack, and her eyes widen. "What—?" She looks away, a soft red filling in under her eyes. "Whatever. If you lose your Servant, just run to the church. At least that way your life will be safe."

Emiya shakes his head. "I'll consider that, but I plan on losing my own life before I'd let that happen."

Tohsaka sighs heavily.

Taiasu stares hard at the ground.

_This sucks… Why do they have to fight each other? I don't think they're enemies. At the very least, they've been friendly to each other until now, right? Why does that have to change? I like them. They're good people, right? I don't understand…_

"Why…?" The word slips out of his mouth.

"Hm? Why what?" Emiya asks.

"Ah!" He looks up from the ground and sees both Tohsaka and Emiya looking down at him.

_Crap… I thought that out loud…_

He sighs. "Why do you guys have to fight?"

Emiya glances up at Tohsaka and back down at Taiasu.

"It's… complicated. The guy at the church explained a lot, but the short of it is we're risking their lives for something only one of us can have." He frowns and his eyes narrow. "Well, they are. I'm fighting to make sure nothing terrible happens like last time."

Taiasu shakes his head. "That's stupid. Why not just work together until the end and then figure it out some other way?"

Tohsaka, Saber and Emiya all look down at him as he stares a hole in the ground.

"Taiasu, it's not that simple," Tohsaka says, turning away "I'll explain it to you when you come by to drop off the rest of those crystals."

She takes a few steps and freezes as the color drains from her face.

"Hm? Tohsaka?" Emiya looks over at her, and then winces and grabs his left hand.

"—Hey, have you finished talking?" A sweet voice sings through the night.

Taiasu's attention snaps to the source, the one speaking, and his eyes widen.

Emiya's stare traces to the hill as well. Tohsaka's horror-stricken stare is already locked in place.

The girl, Illyasviel, stands at the top of the hill near the intersection, her silent sentinel casting its long shadow over her in the light of the full moon, its colossal stone weapon, something between a sword and an axe, held firmly in its grip.

The girl's long, soft silver hair falling just past her shoulders flutters gently in the morning breeze. She wears the same long purple dress coat and cap she had been wearing the night Taiasu had first met her, and something sinister hides behind the soft smile she wears.

"—Berserker…" Tohsaka's voice is barely above a whisper as she stands frozen in place, like her foot is on an active landmine and the slightest twitch could cause a catastrophic explosion.

Emiya's body, gaze, and mind also remain locked and frozen by the sight of the living, lead colored mountain standing just behind the young girl at the top of the hill. His attempts to swallow the lump that has formed in his throat afford him no success.

"Good evening, Onii-chan," Illyasviel says. Her tone is soft and kind, and in stark contrast with the oppressive atmosphere she and her massive Servant project. "This would be the second time we've met like this."

Despite the kind tone and content of her words, they still evoke a powerful chill that starts at the spine and spreads through Emiya's entire body. The veneer coating the words is thin, and they ring as hollow and foreboding as a death knell.

_We're going to die… That thing is going to kill every single one of us…_

"—I heard it… but…" Tohsaka looks back at Taiasu, whose wide-eyed stare traces a path between the girl and the giant. "He said it was a behemoth, but this is beyond what I imagined…"

The girl looks from Emiya to Tohsaka. "Nice to meet you, Rin," she says, bowing politely. She pulls the sides of her deep purple coat to the side, revealing her light pink dress underneath. "I am—"

"Illyasviel, right?" Tohsaka says heavily. "Illyasviel Von Einzbern."

The girl lets her coat fall and looks up and rights herself, ending her gesture. "Oh, so you knew already?"

Tohsaka nods. "Yeah…. And of course, I didn't even need to ask to know who that is…" she says, gesturing to the silent behemoth standing behind her. "Though Taiasu could have done a better job describing it…" she mutters.

Illyasviel looks from Tohsaka to Taiasu now. "Potato-kun? You're dressed differently." Her eyes narrow slightly as she traces him from head to foot with a glance. "Have you been treating my Onii-chan well?"

He nods enthusiastically and grins, running from the group to meet her. Emiya's eyes grow like plates, and Tohsaka's jaw drops to the ground. Saber's entire body grows taut like a fully drawn bowstring.

"This is her!" he says. "The girl I met a couple days ago!" He stops in front of her, and her gaze drops to meet him.

"We just got back from the church where they talked to this guy," he chatters without reservation. "I don't know what they said, because I was outside. Emiya said he'd be fighting to make sure something bad doesn't happen again like last time." He looks up at Berserker and whistles loudly.

"I'll never get used to that. Is he better?" He pokes the mad giant's foot. "He was kind of slow before." He climbs the mountain and pokes the shoulder, formed like chiseled granite. "So, is he okay now?"

He climbs over and pokes the colossus's forehead.

"Is he…?"

The giant closes his hand around the small man and hurls him through the air. He slams into the ground, sliding to a halt at Saber's feet.

Illyasviel's laugh echoes outward, chilling the quiet morning air. "What were you thinking?" she says, staring from him to Tohsaka, to Emiya, and back again.

"Ah…" Taiasu stands up and brushes himself off, wincing slightly. "What…?" He looks up at the young girl as his eyes grow wide. "I… don't understand…"

She shakes her head. "Obviously. Let me spell it out for you." Her eyes narrow sharply and her smile becomes ice cold.

"You sided with them," she says. "That makes us enemies."

Taiasu shakes his head slowly. "No… I didn't. I helped them when I could, but that doesn't mean I sided with them."

Illyasviel's chilling smirk dips and her eyes widen slightly. Tohsaka's jaw sets tightly, Emiya's form tenses, and Saber's grip on her weapon tightens.

"Taiasu… What are you saying?" Tohsaka asks.

"Hm?" He looks up at her. "I told you I didn't want to fight any of you. If I choose to side with any of you, that means that has to happen, right? So, I chose a different side." He grins. "I chose my own side! I can work to help and I won't have to fight any of you guys, right?"

"But you were just saying… about coming with me…?"

"To keep you safe, right?" he says. "That doesn't mean I'd be doing something like fighting if I didn't have to. Especially if it was against someone I liked." He looks from Emiya to Saber as he says the last part. Tohsaka's eyes return to normal and Emiya exhales his held breath.

Saber's eyes narrow slightly, but her grip relaxes.

_Idealistic nonsense…_

Taiasu looks back at Illyasviel. "And it's the same for her…"

Images from the forest vision play out again in his mind, and his grin dips into a sad smile.

"She's someone I'd like to protect too."

Illyasviel's smirk cracks, and she laughs loudly. Not a scornful or sinister laugh. A laugh of genuine amusement.

"You… you want to… protect me…?" She says, wiping the laugh tracks from her eyes. "Why… why would I need… Why would I even need that?" She gasps, catching her breath.

Taiasu's gaze drops to the ground, and his smile falls.

"Who's talking about a need? I just remembered the woods. You were angry, and cold… and in pain…" he says, as his eyebrows press inward. "I hurt… seeing you like that… Even though you had Berserker there, I still felt bad… I couldn't do anything because it already happened…"

Illyasviel's eyes widen and her jaw slacks for a moment as she stares at the small man.

_How…_

Her eyes narrow and her mouth forms into a tight frown. "How could you possibly know that…"

Tohsaka looks down at him. "Taiasu, you… You said your thing, your Echo… Did it show you all of that?" she asks, quietly.

He nods. "It was… terrible. She was alone in the snow with those wolves around her, and every time he moved it made her scream… I just… I wanted to help her…"

"Shut up…" Illyasviel says, quietly.

"I still want to—"

"I said SHUT _UP!"_

She raises her hand as she yells, and the ground at Berserker's feet heaves as he takes to the air like a missile, descending from the top of the hill to the center of the intersection. Taiasu's gaze snaps up from the ground, and his eyes widen at the looming shadow flying toward them.

"—Shirou, stay back…!"

Saber's yellow slicker flies from her form to the ground behind her as she charges forward to meet Berserker.

Taiasu stands in silence as the two titanic forces clash against one another at their designated meeting place in a catastrophic outpouring of power. Saber's invisible weapon and Berserker's stone, broad axe-sword release an explosive blast-wave as they meet against one another, which he can feel oppressing him where he stands.

_It's… the schoolyard all over again…_

Where that had been a clash of inconceivable, reality-bending speed, what is playing out now is already a battle of two unimaginably powerful forces of nature. The titan allows no time for an answer as it rages like a whirlwind of destruction. Saber stands her ground, answering each blow with one of her own, and each time their weapons connect, Taiasu can feel the pressure wave trying to push him back.

_She… will she be okay…?_

He looks from Saber, being pushed backward by the relentless onslaught, to Emiya, who stands locked in place, jaw tight and hands clenched at his side, to Tohsaka, whose face has regained some color, though she remains rooted to the ground, to the girl, Illyasviel, who stands watching with a delighted smile on her face.

He swallows the lump forming in his throat.

_I can't stand here and do nothing._

His jaw firms up, his hands clench into tight fists and the four spheres of red glowing aether swirl around his body as he awakens the Guren no Kamae. They flash into something like sakura petals, scattering and fading.

Tohsaka glances down and sees him kick from the ground, charging forward. After a few steps, he leaves behind him a streak of red as he blitzes forward, slamming into the back of Berserker's leg. Berserker stumbles backward, and Taiasu slides and spins under his lifted foot, facing the colossus and skidding to a halt next to Saber, whose eyes narrow.

"I thought you did not wish to fight!" she says sharply.

"I said I didn't want to fight you," he says, glancing at her from the side before returning his attention to the giant problem in front of them. "But I will fight alongside you!"

Her eyes widen, and her jaw slacks for a moment before firming up as her mouth forms into a warm smile.

"We can discuss it later, right?" he yells, jumping to one side as Berserker, having regained his balance, slams his weapon to the ground. The impact causes ripples to form in the like waves, and another powerful shockwave carrying dust and debris rips outward through the air.

Saber nods and swiftly charges forward, bringing her weapon down and slamming it into the giant's arm, splitting the stony exterior that serves for its flesh and causing it to roar. A small amount of blood sprays from the wound. It turns its attention back to her, swinging the titanic stone weapon at her and forcing her to lunge backward.

Taiasu slides behind and slams his fists into the giant's other legs. Three separate times, and he punctuates the attack with a fourth before lunging back to avoid the expected retaliation. He shakes his hands and winces. Berserker's attention remains focused on Saber, who smashes her unseen weapon into his next attack, releasing another devastating shockwave which cuts through morning air. Tohsaka and Emiya both cover their faces to guard against the slicing wind.

Saber's weapon crashes against another of the giant's blows, and Taiasu slides in, leaping to gain the air needed to slam both palms into the giant's back, and causing it to stumble forward and spin around. The hit the small man delivers forces him backward, and he twists in mid-air as the shaped and moving mountain heaves its formed cleaving stone at him. The attack misses, but by a margin so slim he can feel it threaten to pull the air from his lungs.

He kicks off of the massive weapon as it passes over him to hasten his descent to the ground as Saber cleaves into the giant's back with her unseen weapon, causing a more generous outpouring of blood.

Illyasviel's smile dips into an angry frown and her eyes narrow as her brow furrows. "BERSERKER! FOCUS ON ONE OF THEM!"

The giant roars and turns its attention back to Saber in response to its master's command, and splits the air with a wild swing of its massive, unwieldy weapon as it brings it down to destroy the more threatening of the two enemies it now faces. Saber's response is swift and decisive, as she rolls forward and drives her own weapon into the giant's leg, twists, and pulls it out through the side, nearly severing it. Taiasu's eyes widen as he watches the damage she had done to the giant's back seal in less than a second.

"Saber! We need more, he's healing too quickly!"

She glances at the arm where she had landed her first blow and frowns on seeing that the injury from her attack, which had been slight but present, is now gone entirely, and the deep gash she had made in his leg is already mending. The small man's eyes narrow and his jaw clenches tightly.

_The Haseiken might work to slow his recovery…_

Four swift strikes, but differing from the Rengeki in two ways; the first being that the second two of the four total blows are delivered as deep, penetrating kicks. The second being in that the attack inflicts a potent and persisting internal injury.

He leaps at the giant's back and lands a solid left blow, twisting to his right and delivering a second strike with his other hand. As he comes about, his left leg slices through the air and buries deep into Berserker's stony exterior. He cleaves upward with his right, burying it deep and pushing off, landing a small distance away.

The entire few seconds it takes to land the series of attacks, the giant focuses his swings against Saber, forcing her into another defensive. She slams her weapon into Berserker's and the impact sends out a familiar concussive shockwave which rips through the air and the space surrounding them.

"—Vier Stil Erschießung…!"

"Huh?" Taiasu glances over his shoulder toward the voice yelling out, and a serious of green luminescent projectiles surge past, over his head, and slam into Berserker's exposed flank, tearing into him, ripping into his flesh, and scattering a generous amount of his blood across the city street.

The Echo translates the words, but Taiasu frowns and shakes his head in frustration.

_… Four style shooting…? What?_

* * *

Tohsaka frowns.

Taiasu had just called out to Saber, stating what was obvious to any of the battle's outside observers. Berserker's injuries were recovering too quickly for them to do any lasting or meaningful damage.

She reaches into her jacket and pulls out one of the crystal shards, still dull and bereft of energy as she watches him leap at Berserker's back and land the first of the four strikes while Berserker raises his stone weapon high above his head, preparing to bring it down on Saber

_Not much of a controlled environment, but let's try it anyway…_

Tohsaka holds the gem in her left hand, and a familiar blue glow encircles her arm as she extends it outward, watching as Taiasu lands the second of the four blows.

_Will it work with an incantation…?_

The shard glows as she pours a modest amount of her magical energy into it, and the small man buries a piercing left kick as deep as he can into Berserker's back.

_Not too much… how much was it last time?_

The glow in the shard becomes steady, and the color alternates between the four as the other had earlier. Taiasu feet find the ground after he delivers the final of the four attacks, and Tohsaka smirks.

_Good, he's out of the way. Let's try it… If it doesn't work, I can always just shatter it, right?!_

She takes in a breath and aims the shard at Berserker's exposed flank as the beast brings its weapon down in another full swing against Saber.

"—Vier Stil Erschießung…!"

Her incantation rings out like a song and the blue light encircling her arm glows brighter. The color of the stone becomes a steady green and Taiasu looks back as the amplified magical energy contained within releases in a torrent of luminous, green magical bullets which fly over his head.

The storm of light surges forward, slamming into Berserker's back as he stands over Saber's comparatively slight frame. The light tears into his flesh and scatters his blood across the battlefield. The impact scatters dust and debris, obscuring the battle from view. Tohsaka's eyes widen as the crystal crumbles to dust, and an excited smile plays across her face.

"It… it worked!"

Everything stops. A microburst dissipates the cloud as Berserker moves at speeds which should be impossible for something so massive, and places Tohsaka deep within its looming shadow. The towering, monolithic monstrosity stands over her, weapon in hand. What serves for its eyes glare upon her with fury and malice, and it cleaves the air, bringing its weapon down upon the girl.


	26. Fair Play

Illyasviel wears an icy smile as she watches the ruthless murder of the Tohsaka girl. Berserker cuts her brief cry short as he brings his towering weapon crashing down, releasing a cacophonous shockwave and a field of obscuring dust and debris. Berserker's Master looks over at Saber and Taiasu.

"Berserker, finish Saber, and then we can…?"

She stops and frowns.

_No… Something's wrong…_

She glances around and finds the small man conspicuous by his absence. She looks back at the dissipating cloud where Berserker stands over what should be little more than the shredded remains of a young girl.

Everything had happened in a second, though it felt much longer.

Time had ground to a crawl as Taiasu watched the giant almost vanish and reappear in front of Tohsaka, forcing her backward. The eye of his mind played out what would doubtlessly follow. The weapon coming down, splitting her in half. Her blood and remains scattering across the pavement. His stomach churned at what his mind showed him. Before he realized he'd even done anything, he was standing in front of her in a dissipating dark cloud, attired in his ninja 'costume'.

He'd attuned to the Soul of the Ninja unconsciously. Or perhaps the stone had willed it so. Whichever the case, there'd been no time to think. He'd looked up and saw Berserker's weapon descending. Another bright flash enveloped him. The ninja attire vanished, and in its place were his showy red leathers, with his katana at his side. He tore it from its sheath and slammed it into Berserker's weapon while releasing a substantial amount of stored aether into his insignificant frame to bolster his might and perform what would otherwise have been an impossible feat. With it came a forceful shockwave, scattering dust and debris, and obscuring them from view.

Tohsaka slowly lowers her arms, which she had reflexively used to cover her face and head.

_I'm… not dead?_

When she glances up, she can see Berserker's weapon almost grazing her forehead, and her eyes widen tremendously as they make out the small man in red, struggling to keep the giant's attack at bay.

"T-Taiasu, how…?!"

"G… glad you're okay…! C… can we… later… maybe…?" he grunts as he grinds his weapon against Berserker's. "M… maybe move… please…?"

He can feel his aether drain with each passing moment. Tohsaka nods, and scrabbles back a brief distance before climbing to her feet and running to stand beside Emiya. The sound of metal striking against stone draws Taiasu's attention, and he forces a smirk. Saber completes her long and graceful leap and brings her weapon down and through Berserker's back. The giant abandons his attack, standing upright and roaring as he spins around to confront his attacker. Saber's sure grip on her weapon, which has pierced Berserker through and through, keeps her in the giant's blind spot.

She plants her feet in, and tears her weapon free from Berserker's back, jumping back and landing a small distance away. Taiasu sighs and leaps backward as well, lashing out with his blade as he does and drawing a small amount of blood from Berserker as the titan spins around again, swinging his weapon and cleaving the air where they had just been. Before he lands next to Saber, his sword is back in its sheath.

Emiya's eyes widen.

"I… I know that!" he says.

"Huh? Know what?" Tohsaka asks, having just reached his side.

"That! I know what that was! That was… what was it… Yaten! Hissatsu Ken: Yaten!" he says, grinning, then frowning and shaking his head in quick succession.

_Wait… is this really the right time to be getting excited?_

"A-anyway, and then… next would be—"

**_"ENPI!"_ **

Taiasu's small yet feral roar tears into the sunless morning as he rips his blade from its sheath in an upward arc. The blade shines brightly as it cuts through the air, leaving a trail of brilliant light along its path. The light surges forward, tearing through the ground and slamming into Berserker, causing him to stumble backward.

Emiya nods. "Yeah, Enpi…"

He looks up to see Taiasu surging forward again in a blur and slicing the giant's leg.

"That was Gyoten…" he says, nodding again.

"Why… do you know that?" Tohsaka says, looking at him.

"Maybe it was that stone?" he says, head leaning to one side. "He… the small guy—"

"Taiasu." she says, arms crossed and frowning softly.

"Er… right. Taiasu said I'd keep some knowledge. Maybe this is what he meant?"

Taiasu rolls between the giant's legs and feels another blast wave at his back. He spins around as he leaps upward. The steel of the blade flashes in the night as it slices vertically into the giant's back as he comes about. His momentum carries him around on his way down, and as he comes about again, his sword sings as it lashes a horizontal arc through the score he had just made in Berserker's stone-like hide.

Saber charges forward again, but with an ear-splitting feral roar, the Giant's brings its cleaving stone down and across to crush her. She rolls underneath, and slashes upward with her invisible blade into his chest, adding another to the monster's growing list of injuries.

Emiya's gaze moves quickly about the battle field, taking in everything that he can.

_That was Hakaze. Then next would be…_

Berserker continues the arc of his swing, turning him into a whirlwind of destruction. His continuous attack passes over Taiasu's head by a wide margin, and continues as he spins around, bringing it against Saber once again.

The small man tips the point of his blade toward the ground, and brings it up with a small hop, slashing into Berserker's leg. At the apex of the swing and his jump, he turns the blade's edge toward the ground, and slashes downward, crossing over the slight wound he'd just inflicted. As the second of these two hits land, his eyes shine brightly for a moment.

The knowledge withing the stone he'd grasped earlier that evening reveals the technique's name and function to Emiya.

 _Shifu… That_ should _make him able to react and move faster for a while…_

Saber's weapon practically explodes with the force released when she smashes it into Berserker's colossal stone weapon to end his continuous assault. The force of the hit sends her flying, though she lands on her feet, relatively unharmed. Before Berserker can follow up, Taiasu lashes out with a horizontal strike against the most accessible part of Berserker's body—his leg. As his blade passes through, it releases a slight burst of aether in the like of sakura petals, which scatter and fade. At the end of the swing, he turns his blade and brings it down and across from the right in another slash which releasing another burst of sakura petals along with a modest amount of the titan's blood.

Emiya watches with wide eyes as the last of the sakura petals fades into nothing.

_Kasha… I think? That was… art._

Berserker ignores the small man, leaping into the air toward where Saber steadies herself on her feet. The shadow cast as he passes overhead is like an eclipse, and it serves as enough for her to react. She raises her weapon aloft and plunges it deep into the giant's chest, ending his reckless assault and causing his weapon to fall from his hands, smashing into the ground. He falls with the rest of his momentum, forcing her weapon through and out his back. The giant's mouth stretches as he roars in fury when Saber tears her weapon from his chest, forcing him to stumble a few steps backward. She leaps forward, burying her invisible, bladed weapon into Berserker at the waist, and tearing it out through the side.

The giant collapses to one knee, letting out another furious, bone chilling howl of rage. Some older injuries have mended, but the newer ones continue to add up. Saber lashes out again with her weapon, carving into Berserker's flesh. The giant roars again, and grabs the girl in a grip like iron, disregarding her attack and his injuries. He turns and heaves her at Taiasu, and his eyes go wide just before she slams into him. Both of them tumble backward to the ground.

The giant stands and grabs his weapon. Then he stops and turns, and a low growl escapes his lips.

"Hmm, hmm, hmm. Now what have we here?" A cheerful voice echoes into the early morning. "Two on one? This hardly seems fair. What is a poor neanderthal to do in such a trying situation, hm?"

Taiasu can't find the source of the voice for having Saber's face troublingly close to his. Despite their peril, or perhaps because of it, he can feel his face burning like it had that morning. He can practically see himself turning red in her eyes.

"Can… you get up… please?" he mutters, but she is already on her way to her feet by the time he articulates his request.

Taiasu stands and shakes his head before tracing the source of the voice to a figure standing some distance away from them, atop the hill where Berserker and Illyasviel had first announced themselves just a few minutes prior. A man, by his voice, standing with the moon at his back, shrouded by the hood of his plain dark gray cloak which conceals the rest of his attire for it being closed. Despite his cheerful demeanor, his presence sends an inexplicable chill through the small man that pierces to his very core.

Berserker moves with impossible speed, placing himself between this new player and his Master as she takes a few steps back. She places her hands on her sides, pokes her head around her Servant, and stares at the man with her eyes narrowing sharply.

"I'm sorry, but would you mind moving aside?" the shrouded figure says, gesturing at the giant. "I'd like to have words with the small one there behind you."

Illyasviel's eyes widen. "Me? Why. I've—"

"No, not you. I'm sorry, I should have been more specific." The figure groans and sighs, rubbing his face under his hood. "The OTHER small one. The SMALLER one."

"With… me?" Taiasu says, holding his chest. "Why? I don't know you…"

Illyasviel scowls. "I'm afraid that will have to wait," she says sharply. "What was that you said, about—"

"Be silent, child," the man says harshly. "The _adults_ are trying to have a conversation."

"Khu… what…?" Illyasviel's face flashes a few shades of red. "You… who do—"

"Sorry, was I unclear? Let me try to articulate more effectively," the figure growls. "I said to SHUT UP WHILE THE ADULTS ARE SPEAKING!"

Illyasviel grinds her teeth as she raises her hand and before the echo of her finger snap has faded, Berserker is bearing down on the shrouded figure with a furious roar. His weapon slams into him, sending the newcomer sailing through the air. The giant charges to follow up, smashing his weapon into the man and sending him further skyward before striking him again and sending him sailing down the hill toward the center of the intersection.

The man lands with a rough grunt. As he stands up, shaking his head, the moonlight reflects off the red mask which conceals his face under his hood. Seeing it causes Taiasu's eye to widen and his chest to tighten.

_That's impossible…_

Berserker leaps to the center of the intersection where the shrouded figure stands, sighing.

The giant's form eclipses the moon and his weapon crashes to the ground where the man stands. When the debris settles, Berserker, weapon gripped tightly in both hands, stands bearing down against the man, who holds the attack at bay. Not with a weapon of his own. Not with a shield, some energy barrier, or even his bare hand.

He holds the mad titan's attack at bay with not but the fully extended index finger of his right hand.

"Yes, yes. You've made your point. So big, so angry, so scary," the figure says, his cutting tone also thick with boredom. With a wave of his hand and some unseen force, he catapults Berserker away like a meddlesome insect.

"So _played._ "

The giant crashes into the top of the hill where he'd stood with the girl and the moon at his back when they'd first announced their presence. The shrouded figure extends the remaining fingers of his right hand and clenches it in a tight fist, and a dark glow encircles the giant, anchoring him in place.

His gray cloak shakes loose a small amount of dust as the man brushes himself off before stretching, causing some of his joints to pop audibly. Then, now much closer thanks to Berserker having knocked him around some, the man turns to Taiasu, and laughs on seeing his face.

"Aha, I see you've found me out!" he says, settling his laughter. "What a shame, I was so looking forward to seeing your face when I did this." He ends his statement with the glowing red sigil appearing, hovering in front of his face, revealing him to be what he is.

"Names, yes. Introductions!" the man says in an excited tone. "Though you have guessed half, I should introduce myself. After all, it's only proper to introduce one's self to one who is so famed throughout the land…" His excited tone vanishes and words drip with scathing sarcasm as he bows deeply in a mocking, hollow manner.

"Sobervre. Ascian Sobervre."

"H-how. How are—"

"Yes, yes. How am I here? Such a boring and obvious question," Sobervre interjects. "Likely, the same way you came here, yes?" He laughs again. "Though in my case, I was aware it was to another planet, and another _universe_ I was coming."

Tohsaka and Emiya stand some distance away, and Saber has already placed herself between them and Sobervre, acting as a guard. Illyasviel stands at Berserker's side, trying to undo whatever binds his movements, and finding her efforts lacking in success.

Taiasu's eyes widen. "But you can't be—"

"Can't what? Can't be here?" Sobervre cuts him off again. "And why would that be, hm?"

Taiasu's eyes narrow fiercely and his face is cut by his sharp scowl. "Because if this is another universe, it explains the absence of aether, and you need that to live same as I do, last I knew."

Sobervre's boisterous laughter echoes around them. "Well, well, so the small man's small brain has a small amount of knowledge, and correct that knowledge is! But telling all would be boring, don't you think? As boring as it would have been to simply deny that oafish brute his kicks of smacking me around, yes?" He gestures toward Berserker who struggles against his binds, and Illyasviel, who still endeavors to free him.

Taiasu's scowl softens as his eyes widen. "You… you let—"

"Yes, I _let_ him. After all, it's such a boring cliche, isn't it?" Sobervre says, his cloak billowing as he swings his arms before folding his hands together beside his face. "Ooh, the mysterious unknown figure shows up. Let's have the giant monster attack him and then _nothing happens_. Bleh." He sighs. "Though, I suppose this wasn't much different, but it was a more interesting way of getting me down here, into a nice, conversational range with you, don't you think?" he says, turning to face Taiasu.

"You're… insane." Taiasu whispers, and Sobervre's body shakes as he laughs again.

"Master of the obvious!" he says, after he finishes laughing. "Though I dare say, those among those gifted with the burden of knowledge who do not crack under its weight are few and far between, and far better people than we, yes?"

"What do you want." Taiasu demands, his eyes narrowing sharply.

"Ooh, scary!" the man says, chuckling. "Yes, what do I want. What do we all want?" he says, the mirth vanishing from his voice. "You know the answer. Emet-Selch explained it to you on the First Star! We want to see Zodiark restored, and we want you to stop interfering!" Rage builds in the man's voice. "Which is why my brethren permitted me my little scheme to have you brought here!"

"You… then you're him." Taiasu growls, gripping the hilt of his sword tightly.

"No, I am not _him_ ," the Ascian says, shaking his head. "Though I must say the man who calls himself Watcher will live out the rest of his days, blissfully unaware of the part he played in ridding me and mine of our greatest and most troublesome thorn."

"What the hells are—"

"Yes, yes." Sobervre says with a condescending, dismissive wave of his hand. "What am I saying? Fine, I'll spell it out for you. Maybe put some new wrinkles in that smooth blob you so generously refer to as a brain."

"Taiasu, what is—"

The shrouded figure snaps his head around and glares at Tohsaka, whose mouth snaps closed as she takes a half step back.

 _"HEY!"_ Taiasu darts around, placing himself between them. "Leave them out of this! They have nothing to do with you and I!"

Sobervre groans, palming his face under the hood. "Bleh. You make me sick. Known them maybe two days and you're already like this. But fine. Settle yourself, I have no quarrel with them. _Yet_." His tone cuts the air. "And it will stay that way as long as the CHILDREN LET THE ADULTS HAVE THEIR CONVERSATION!" he roars. "Oh. I'm sorry, I lost myself for a moment" He takes in a brief breath and his voice lowers. "It happens from time to time. Please forgive me and keep your darling little mouths closed, hm? I'm sure our mutual, diminutive associate can answer whatever questions you have once I've finished having my fun here, yes?"

Saber's form tenses, but she makes no movement forward, only keeping her weapon at the ready. Emiya's teeth grind as his jaw sets firmly, and Tohsaka's sharp frown cuts deeply into her face.

"Now then, yes. I was mocking your compassion but I'm already bored with that, so let's move on shall we? The old man, as you so frequently referred to him," Sobervre says, his tone regaining its former cheerful mirth. "The perfect trap. Just some vague and cryptic words, and honeyed promises of a new and exciting adventure, and you were all too eager to accept. You didn't even think twice did you?"

"That was…" Taiasu stops and groans, staring at the ground. "Of course it was… Gods take me for the—"

"SHUT UP!" Sobervre roars again. "CHIDE YOURSELF ON YOUR OWN TIME! YES, it was a trap. An obvious trap, and you blundered into it. And of course, your next question would be 'why', so keep _your_ trap closed and I'll answer that too."

Taiasu's mouth slides closed, though his face is gouged by a deep and angry scowl.

"Yes, scary. Be angry. I don't care," he says, his tone again cutting. "The entire time you've been in our way, my brethren have tried eliminating you at significant cost. With the Ultima Weapon, Lahabrea made for us a powerful and determined enemy in Gaius van Baelsar, who has been on an unceasing rampage, hunting us down where ever he can find us. And then Lahabrea had to get himself and our dear sweet sister Igeyohrm killed. Do you know how few sisters we have!?"

He sighs and folds his arms. "So I came to my brothers with a less obvious plan, involving a less violent and more subtle approach. 'How many more of our brothers and sisters will lose their lives for this cause?' I told them. 'Is it necessary to eliminate this wretched menace? NO! Let there be peace for a time, and he will grow bored, and listless!' I said to them."

His arms drop and his form shakes with laughter again. "And it worked beautifully. With no world ending threats looming on the horizon, your wanderlust was stoked by not but some vague nonsense! And off you were and out of our way!" He lets out a short, scornful laugh. "Honestly, I'd expected you to die as soon as you arrived in this gods forsaken aethereal wasteland of a world… But you surprised me," he says, nodding. "And that was fine, too. After all, I still have uses for you."

Taiasu's eyes narrow sharply and his furious scowl cuts deeply into his expression.

"Okay, FINE!" he yells, causing Tohsaka to jump. "You got me here! Good job! Are you just going to spend the entire night patting yourself on the back and MOCKING ME!?"

"I'd planned on it, yes," Sobervre says, grinning. "After all, we're little and less if we're not big on theatrics and gloating. But fine, I see your point. Obviously your next question would be 'Why would I need to be here?' yes? After all, with you out of our way, I've only put myself at risk being here, and even more so by announcing my presence to you."

Taiasu's fists clench tightly around the hilt of his sword. "You've been big on cutting me off, so are you going to make me ask?" he growls.

The Ascian claps his hands excitedly. "Oh, so he can be taught! No, I wasn't. But I'm not going to just feed you the answer either. I want you to _earn_ it! So think, small-brained small man! What could be a draw for me here, in this time, in this place, hm?" he says, his tone short and sharp. "What is there here that could possibly have my—"

"The Holy Grail…" Tohsaka says, arms folded. "I don't know anything about half of what you said, but that can be the only thing…"

"Oho! So the small-minded small man's small brain has enough sense to keep company with persons more clever than he!" he says, looking up at her. "Yes, girl. You have the very right of it. When I discovered this world, and this… entity you so loftily refer to as 'The Holy Grail', it piqued my interest. That this world could serve as a sort of purgatory for our diminutive associate here proved to be merely icing on the cake."

"Fine, then why show yourself now!?" Taiasu yells, his brow cutting into the bridge of his nose. "There was no—"

"Because it amused me," the Ascian says. "And you know how we are. We'll shove it right in your face" He makes the motions with his fingers, like a professional puppeteer expertly guiding a marionette. "We're pulling the strings. We're manipulating the entire play, right in front of your face. Emet-Selch was equally open about it." His hands fall to his sides again and he heaves a deep sigh. "But if you are asking why I chose this very moment, the answer is simple—"

Sobervre turns to the girl, struggling with the dark binding still anchoring her Servant to the ground. He snaps his fingers, and the binding vanishes. Berserker rights himself and is on his feet in a second.

"It doesn't matter to me whether you live or die, Warrior of Light," the Ascian says in a sinister, cutting tone. "I can see my purpose served by other means, and this world is ripe with boundless entertainment. So let's see how well you can handle the true strength of this monster without your precious Hydaelyn to protect you!"

He reaches up under his cloak and gives a hard yank, and when his hand reappears, it holds in his firm grip an intricate, circular, silver pendant with a glowing crystal shard in the center that shifts between six distinct colors; amethyst, ruby, topaz, larimar, sapphire, and emerald. Sobervre aims the pendant at Berserker, and the color shift accelerates until it turns white, and a beam fires from the pendant, striking the giant in the chest. The injuries that had yet to heal instantly, and the monster's eyes glow with a violent red light. His muscles grow and tighten, and the ground shatters under his weight.

"What are you doing!? Stop it!" Illyasviel cries out.

"Oh, just giving him a helping hand, do please be quiet," the Ascian says, forcing back a yawn.

"He doesn't need your help! We don't need your help!" she yells again. An intricate series of red glyphs, sigils and markings show through her clothes and over her entire body as she extends her hands outward, and fires a blast of raw magical energy at the shrouded man.

"Petulant child," Sobervre says, and catches the blast with his free hand. "I tried playing nice, but it seems you need to feel some harsh discipline!"

To his right, he ignores the bright flash and the sound of the air being shaken as he releases the blast back at the girl, whose eyes widen sharply.

"What—!"

Before the blast reaches her, a dark cloud obscures her vision, and Taiasu leaps from it, into the path of the blast, taking the full to his chest. A pained groan escapes him as he rolls forward. Smoke from the blast wafts from his form into the still sunless morning as he rights himself, once again in his dark colored traditional Shinobi uniform.

He holds his chest for a moment, and as he pulls his hand back, he can see a deep red contrasting with the black of his glove. A taste like iron fills his mouth, but his mask forces him to swallow it down.

"You… okay?" he grunts out, glancing at her over his shoulder.

"Why…"

He turns and looks into her eyes, which are wide with surprise.

"Why what?"

Illyasviel shakes her head. "Why… would you do that?"

His head leans to one side. "I already told you, right?" he says, wincing and grinning. "I wanted to protect you. I don't want to be enemies…"

The beam of light continues from the pendant held by Sobervre for a few seconds more before ending, and he returns it to the inside of his cloak.

"The more I see of you, the more you make me want to vomit," he says, spitting on the ground. "Do you really think you can have it every way? Do you really think you can save everyone? That no one has to die? You're pathetic, and that you've survived this long astonishes me."

He looks from the small man to the titan near both him and the girl.

"But let's see if you can figure a way out of this, small man! Oh Berserker! I believe your Master gave you an order to eliminate those two, yes!" He snaps his fingers again, and the giant gives another feral, earth-shattering roar as it clenches its weapon so tightly it threatens to break the hilt.

Taiasu covers his ears, and then another dark cloud conceals him and Illyasviel as he grabs her, pulling her in. The giant's weapon crushes the ground where they stood into powder, scattering the dark wisps that had remained. He steps out of the exit cloud with the girl behind Emiya and Tohsaka.

"Keep her safe," he says, and with another quick flash, his sword is back in his hand.

Berserker rips his weapon from the ground and spins to face them, roaring so loud they all have to cover their ears.

"Very well then, _hero_. I look forward to our next conversation." Sobervre says, his voice dripping with scathing derision as he steps into a rippling dark orb appearing in front of him, and then out of the exit next to Taiasu.

" _If_ there is another conversation to be had," he whispers into his ear, before another rippling sphere hides him from view, and he vanishes.


	27. Whetstone

With the distracting presence of Sobervre gone, Saber surges forward to meet the refreshed Berserker. The colossus's eyes glow a deep crimson in the dark of the sunless morning, and he brings his weapon down and across. Saber meets the attack with her own, and is brutally rebuffed by its overwhelming power, which sends her flying and skipping across the ground until she slams into a car at the side of the road, folding it in half around her.

"Damn it!" Taiasu yells, ripping his pack open and shoving his hand in. The wound in his chest from Illyasviel's redirected attack has ceased bleeding.

_It wasn't that bad of a hit, but I still need time… I need…_

He tears six distinct crystal clusters from the pack, throws them to the ground and drops himself onto them.

_Come on, come on…_

The seconds pass like hours as the battle rage between Berserker and Saber. The giant moves at impossible speeds, seizing her from the crumpled heap of metal and slamming her face down into the pavement. Emiya's hands twitch as he watches and swallows hard. Illyasviel's lower lip trembles as she steps from behind the two, and Tohsaka glances down at another spent crystal shard within her hand for a moment before she shakes her head slowly.

Taiasu stands and kicks the spent clusters away as he dumps out six more before flopping down on them.

_It's taking too long…!_

The giant lifts the girl from the ground and glares at her. She returns his glare with her own fierce, icy stare and slams her weapon into his arm. The giant roars and loses his grip as blood sprays from the fresh injury, and she leaps backward, landing some distance away.

"What are you doing!?" Emiya yells, looking down at the small man as he kicks the clusters away, and dumps out six more. "She needs your help!"

"I know that!" he yells back, holding the six fresh clusters and watching them drain. "I can't help her if I can't move!"

Berserker leaps skyward, blotting out the moon, and Saber rolls to one side as he slams his weapon down, crushing the ground to dust and sending out a rippling shockwave through the road so pronounced she has to steady herself as it passes. The giant slides across the ground, latches onto her body and slams her into the ground again. He lifts his foot high above her and brings it down before another of his ear-splitting roars echoes through the darkened morning, and blood sprays up like a fountain.

Saber rips her weapon, which she had used to stop the giant's attack, from his foot, but before she can make another move, he has once again seized her, pinning her arms in his colossal grip. No scream leaves her while he attempts to crush her entire body in his grasp, and she meets his hollow stare with firm defiance.

 ** _"ENPI!"_** Taiasu roars his evocation of the technique's name while ripping his blade from the sheath, and another streak of light, less pronounced than the first, surges across the ground and slams into Berserker's arm, shaking Saber loose.

She falls, coughing and gasping briefly as she lands, and the giant spins and glares at him as he sprints forward, sword in hand. The ground shakes as the giant charges forward to meet him. The familiar feeling of things slowing down takes hold as the distance between them becomes less and less. The giant's movements feel about as fast as they had the first night, but it's still plenty fast enough. His weapon comes down with a speed and power which dwarf those of his attacks from before. Taiasu leaps forward into the attack and twists around it before it collides with the ground. Still a distance from the ground, slashes twice with swift succession; once horizontally and again vertically, each strike crossing the other, with each leaving a minor laceration in the giant's stony chest. Berserker frees one of his hands from his weapon, and swats the small man aside like a bug, sending him sailing. He twists mid-air, and at his feet forms a burst of aether as he executes another Gyoten, propelling him back into the melee.

As he flies past, his eyes shine after the second of two more heavy vertical slashes, each landing and drawing blood. He spins mid-air to face the giant, and Saber bursts past, after having recovered her breath. He lands and slides to a stop before sprinting forward to catch up as well. Saber rolls underneath the giant's massive swing, and Taiasu exploits the brief opening, landing two more heavy strikes, each releasing a familiar aethereal burst like sakura petals which fade soon after appearing.

_I have to move faster…!_

The small man digs deep, burning his limited aethereal glut, and Saber and Berserker's movements both seem to slow down to something more like what one could expect from a normal person.

_Can't do this for long or I'll burn through too much._

He lunges between the giant's legs again as Saber's seemingly normal speed attack causes more blood to fall from Berserker's arm. The giant roars in protest. A roar which sounds deep and distorted. Taiasu slides to a stop and spins around, leaping up and landing another two-strike Hakaze, and before his descent starts, he lands a powerful diagonal slash, which he follows up with a swift piercing thrust. On landing the second thrust, his form briefly glows red.

Emiya, still watching the battle unfold, shakes his head.

_I… almost can't see it… but that was… Jinpu, right? So his hits will be stronger?_

Illyasviel's lip quiver has subsided, and in its place is an angry frown. Her eyebrows press inward, and her set jaw causes her teeth to grind loudly.

_What did that miserable man do to my Berserker…! Why would he attack when I was right there like that!?_

Tohsaka glances at the eighteen scattered spent clusters and sighs, collecting them into a pile. She picks one up and considers it for a moment before again shaking her head as she sets it in the pile.

_I don't know what sort of effect that would have… it might kill all of them. Worst case, it would kill those two, and Berserker would survive…_

Taiasu's feet barely touch the ground before he's begun rotating his blade in a counter-clockwise circle in front of him. The point of the blade shines as it moves, leaving a glowing trail in its wake, and as it completes the circle, he strikes with a forceful, angular slash from his left down toward his right. As the blow cuts into the back of Berserker's left leg, the circle of light flashes, leaving an image of a moon which quickly fades as he spins to his right. Coming about, he crosses the cut with another heavy horizontal strike.

_Just two more…_

Heavy drops of sweat form on his forehead. He can feel his gloves sticking to his hands. Distracting and irritating, but nothing when compared with what he can feel his quick movements doing to his limited aether reserves as he leaps upward, landing another two-strike Hakaze.

_One more…_

Before he falls, he lands another slash, and something like a trail of ice follows the path of his blade, which shatters as it crosses the path of the two cuts from the Hakaze. He descends and turns, landing the last strike of the attack as a forceful reverse thrust, which brings with it another burst of ice which shatters as it pierces through Berserker's back and out through his chest before fading.

Taiasu lands and withdraws himself from his heightened aether consumption. The flow of time, or rather his perception of the flow of time, returns to normal. Everything becomes a blur as he lunges forward and spins to keep Berserker in his sight.

Emiya shakes his head vigorously.

_That was… too fast. That's impossible… It was all a blur but… Gekko and Yukikaze… He's setting up for —_

Berserker roars again, spinning around in time to see Taiasu glow with a bright bursting flash of yellow after he finishes twirling his blade behind himself and bringing it forward, holding it in front of him, aiming it at the giant in what could otherwise be mistaken for a simple bit of sword-based stage-play. Berserker raises his weapon over his head with enough speed to create another microburst, but Saber cleaves his left leg with her unseeable weapon. The giant ignores her, but her effort causes enough of a delay in his attack for Taiasu to lunge through the space between his legs one more time. Berserker's attack again smashes the space where he had just been, crushing the ground and creating another powerful, rippling shockwave to pour out from the point of impact.

Taiasu spins around and the sound of his steel sings as he slides it into its sheath, and a high-pitched hum rings out as a patch of ice forms at his feet while he brings himself low to the ground.

"Please, just hold him for a moment…" he mutters to Saber as Berserker spins to face them again, ripping his weapon from the ground as he does. "Just for a moment…"

Saber nods and charges forward, leaping to the side as Berserker brings his weapon down again, smashing the ground at his feet to pieces. She slashes out with her weapon again, cleaving his other leg and causing another earth-rending roar.

Taiasu's eyes close briefly as the aether he had been melding with his long series of attacks flows into the sheath of his sword. The ice patch at his feet expands outward and then stops.

_That's long enough…_

"Saber, move!" he roars. She leaps back and Berserker turns to face him.

"Midare…" His eyes snap open as he pulls his katana from his sheath and the ice patch at his feet explodes, sending shards of ice in each direction as the blade tears through the air in a vertical arc, leaving a blinding flash of light and aether in its wake. The blast of light leaves an image of a crescent moon and extends far beyond the reach of the blade, cleaving a path through Berserker.

 ** _"SETSUGEKKA!"_** He finishes evoking the name of the technique as his momentum from the first swing carries him in a complete circle. The blade continues to shine as he lashes out a second time, cleaving a brilliant, arcing flash of light in a horizontal path which intersects the first, and blasts through Berserker at his waist. As the second blast passes through, again it scatters something like several sakura petals, all of which quickly fall and fade.

_One more…_

His eyes close again for a moment and his katana is back in its sheath before the image of the moon created by the first swing has faded. Another high-pitched hum emanates from the blade and the sheath as a patch of ice forms at his feet the instant the hilt of his blade clicks against the sheath.

**_"KAESHI SETSUGEKKA!"_ **

Before he's even finished evoking the name of the second technique, and as the image of the moon left by the first strike of the first technique has only begun to fade, another is in its place, and two more brilliant, blinding, flashing arcs of light tear through Berserker as Taiasu comes about, ending the second swing before it's even clear he'd begun the first. Again, the patch of ice at his feet shatters, scattering frozen shards in every direction, and again, the second strike scatters a series of ephemeral sakura petals.

Taiasu breathes heavily, falling to one knee.

_Was that… did it do—!_

A massive arm reaches through the fading arcs of light and grips him like a vice. The light fades and Berserker yanks him forward, roaring with fury. Four deep and dripping gashes left by the four arcs of light persist in Berserker's body, arms, legs, hands and face, but none are enough to slow him down or even to make him hesitate.

"Damn… it!" Taiasu lashes out with his sword, piercing into the giant's hand, causing him to roar, turn, and launch him at Saber like a missile.

Time seems to slow again as she and Taiasu two lock eyes. Taiasu grimaces at the sound of the titan crashing forward from behind them.

_I can't do this… not for much longer… I can only think of one more play here…_

**_"SABER!"_** he yells, extending his free arm, with his sword in the other, **_"THROW ME AT HIM!"_**

Her eyes widen briefly, but she nods and reaches out toward him. She catches his arm and spins the two of them in a circle, releasing him back at the giant bearing down on them. Specifically, right at his head.

Taiasu frowns sharply.

_This was really dumb, but… one more play…_

Emiya's eyes widen hugely, and Tohsaka bites her lower lip. Illyasviel scoffs.

"What a pointless gesture. They can't win… They have to know that."

The other two ignore her taunt. Emiya's hands clench into tightly balled fists at his side, and his feet take a half-step forward.

As he flies through the air, Taiasu swings his sword in front of him twice, twirls it around and brings it back, aiming it at Berserker again. Something like lightning bursts from the blade, and his form emits an ephemeral red glow. He grips his sheath at the opening just before he reaches Berserker's head and frees it from his waist with a firm yank.

 _"Hissatsu Ken…"_ A sinister, red aura envelops him, his sword, and his sheath as he cleaves through Berserker's head with both, and he passes through like light.

_"Seinei."_

The force of Berserker's throw, along with Saber's having added to it, causes him to sail well past his intended target, and he slams hard into the ground, skipping several times like a stone before slamming into the nearby retaining wall with a visceral grunt.

Berserker continues his charge, which slows and then stops as he collapses to one knee. He reaches toward his head as red pours from the x-shaped cut forming across his face. The top of his head slides down at an angle, falling to the ground with a nauseating squelching sound, where it splits again as it lands, revealing the contents of Berserker's skull. Part of the left side of his head that remains falls as well, leaving only his jaw and neck as his body collapses to the ground.

Taiasu winces and grasps at his chest. As he pulls his hand away, he finds fresh blood contrasting with the red of his gloves. He grumbles as he stands and takes a few steps forward from the wall behind him.

_Damn… must have torn it open… No surprise. That was really…?_

He looks up and shakes his head. His eyes widen and his mouth drops like a lead weight.

_No way… that's impossible…_

Berserker stands and his head effectively re-materializes from the small remaining stump. The process takes only a couple of seconds and Berserker spins, eyes raging red. His shadow covers the small man in an instant.

_Shi—!_

Taiasu makes to leap to the side when the feeling strikes. The feeling with which he's become familiar. Not as severe as it had been earlier that day when his battle with Lancer had come to its end, but enough to cause him to stumble, and he lands face down. Berserker allows no time to pass as he slams his weapon down onto the small man, laying him open from shoulder to hip, crushing his armor, and splitting his body.

Everything goes white. His lungs lack the air to facilitate the scream his body so desperately tries to force from him. Instead, a disconcerting measure of red exits his mouth and sprays forward, and he can feel it pouring out of his back in even greater quantities.

_D-damn it… I'm dead… I'm definitely… dead…_

Whatever pain his body feels, it seems to block it out. The white fades and his eyes can make out Berserker standing over him. Between the gargantuan pillars which serve as his legs, he can see Tohsaka, Emiya, and Illyasviel, but he can't make out their expressions. He can still move his head, though just barely, so he's able to glance around, and the sound of steel striking against pavement draws in his gaze.

Saber leaps through the air toward Berserker's exposed back. Everything goes white again as the giant violently tears his weapon free from Taiasu's maimed form. The white obscures his vision, but the sounds allow the events to play out in his head.

Berserker smashes his weapon into the girl, splitting her armor, maiming her body, and sending her sailing and tumbling to the ground. The giant ignores the crippled Taiasu for the moment, directing his attention toward the Saber now, intent on ending her. The white fades and the small man's eyes can make the girl out, though her form is blurry. He can see her gripping her side, supporting herself with the tip of her unseen weapon buried into the ground.

_Damn it… damn everything…_

* * *

Tohsaka reaches into her red coat and closes her hands around the crystal she'd kept from the other day. She's just seen Berserker incapacitate Taiasu, and then smash Saber in the side and send her sailing.

_If Saber dies, we die… This… this has to work._

She pulls out the inert crystal and clenches her hand around it. Larger than the shards she's held, she can only close her hand around its center. She aims the crystal at the giant as he moves toward Saber, who stands supported by her blade, clutching her side where her armor was shattered, and red pours down over her hand, running to the ground.

_Work… work!_

* * *

Emiya stares as the small man stumbles and the rampaging giant splits him in half. He can feel his stomach twist as he watches Berserker rip his weapon from Taiasu's limp form, and more red pours out with it. The giant spins and smashes it into Saber, sending her flying. She staggers to her feet, supporting herself with the weapon he can't see, but is growing more and more certain is a sword of some sort. His jaw sets tightly as he watches the red poor from her armor over her hand, and his feet turn toward her.

* * *

Illyasviel watches with a cold and satisfied smirk as her Servant lays the small man low and then sends the girl soaring and slamming into the pavement with a quick and decisive swing of his weapon.

_Good. Maybe I'll make it home in time for…?_

Her eyes widen as she watches Tohsaka reach into her jacket and pull out something, aiming it at her Servant as he moves like the wind to finish Saber off. Whatever she holds glows brightly in her hand.

"Berserker! Watch out!" she yells.

The giant ignores her warning, raising his weapon above his head, and preparing to bring it down upon Saber, to end her role in this conflict.

The crystal in Tohsaka's hand fractures after about a second of intensely channeling her magical power into it. She focuses the released energy into as tight an area as she can. Unlike the previous two incidents, the blast wave comes out as more of a piercing beam she directs as precisely as she can at Berserker. She aims up to avoid hitting Saber, and the rainbow-colored beam strikes the giant in the chest, halting his attack against the girl.

Emiya, who had been about to enter a dead run toward Saber, stops, and turns to see the source of the beam not a meter behind him. The colored lights of the beam highlight Tohsaka's form, and her coat and hair flare out behind her as she continues to focus her magical energy to protect herself and direct the beam's path.

It lasts for about a second and then stops. She pants heavily, letting her arm drop and shaking her hand vigorously, clenching open and closed it a few times.

_That… hurt. I think I shouldn't use… those…?_

Her thoughts are interrupted by the shadow looming over her. Berserker stands above her with a smoldering hole in his chest. Not completely through, but deep and substantial, and a waterfall of red pours from the injury for a few moments before stopping. Her eyes widen and her mouth turns in a frightened half-smile.

_Oh, damn…_

Berserker extends his arm, weapon in hand, to his side, and swings with violent force toward the girl without concern for his Master standing in the path of his attack. A flash of red enters her field of view. The red of Emiya's hair, as he slams himself into both Tohsaka and Illyasviel, knocking them to the ground before Berserker's weapon slams into his side, tearing him open and sending him rolling across the ground.

Taiasu, unable to do more than watch, closes his eyes at the sight.

The boy lacks the capacity for a single utterance as his insides quickly become his outsides. Everything goes white and he can taste bitter iron filling his mouth as his stomach attempts to force its contents up through his throat. Each breath feels like fire in his lungs. The giant turns his attention toward the boy, and Illyasviel stands and screams.

"Berserker! STOP! THAT'S ENOUGH!"

The giant turns again toward the girl, his Master, and raises his weapon above his head. Illyasviel's form glows as the intricate series of red symbols, glyphs and sigils appear over her entire body.

_"I SAID STOP!"_

As she yells, the glow around her flares brilliantly, and the giant's eyes, which had continued to be a maddening, glowing deep red, flash and return to normal.

Berserker's eyes widen and his mouth drops. His grip on his weapon relaxes, and it falls to the ground with a tremendous crashing sound, kicking up a small cloud of dust. His mouth opens and closes repeatedly, and he falls to both knees, reaching out toward the girl, whose red glow has faded. She steps forward, and reaches out toward the giant's hand with her own, and rests it on one of his fingers. Something like tears wells up in the giant's eyes.

"It's okay…" Illyasviel says, softly. "I know… You weren't yourself, right? That man did something to you…"

The giant extends one of his fingers and caresses the girl's face and head.

"Shirou!"

Saber's voice echoes out from behind Berserker as she runs forward. The injury she'd sustained has since closed. She runs to the boy and kneels at his side.

"Sa… ber… you're… alright…" he chokes out, reaching up toward her face.

"You fool! What were you thinking…?!" She grabs his hand, but he offers no response as his head falls to one side and his eyes drift closed.

"Shirou…! Shirou!" Saber calls out to him again, but he gives no reply.

"Emiya-kun!" Tohsaka rights herself and runs over to check on him as well.

Taiasu watches with the last few moments of his consciousness.

_Damn… no… not… please not… again…_

With this last thought, his eyes drift closed, and he blacks out.

"We're leaving," Illyasviel says. Berserker reaches down and lifts his weapon with one arm, and the girl with the other. From her lofty position, she stares down at Saber and Tohsaka.

"I don't know what will happen if I see you again," she says. "So make sure we don't have to find out."

She hugs Berserker around his neck and the giant's loud footsteps rumble against the ground as he walks away from the battle field and into the night.

Tohsaka watches as the two fade into the distance and looks back down at the boy. Her eyes widen and she shakes her head.

_That's… that's impossible…!_

She shakes her head a second time and then looks toward where Taiasu lays motionless on the ground.

"Taiasu!" Whatever she'd seen with Emiya was enough to sate her concerns with him, and she runs toward where his small and fallen form. She finds his breathing shallow, but steady, and she breathes a heavy, relieved sigh.

_He said a few hours… right? We need to get them home so they can recover…_

She kneels down and rolls the small man over onto his back and gently takes him up in her arms. He winces slightly, and his face scrunches up briefly before relaxing and another soft sigh escapes his lips.

"Please, not… again…" he mutters unconsciously.

Saber lifts the injured Emiya as well, and the two girls carry the two boys back to his residence.

The Day Ends.


	28. Paramnesia

Taiasu sees the scene fade into being before his eyes. The man and the woman, together on a raised platform, and a man before them, well dressed in a specially tailored suit, standing outside under a brightly lit sky with just a few clouds and a gentle breeze. They stand before a crowd of friends and family, each sitting in a simple folding chair opened up on the grass. The chairs are divided into several rows and columns, split evenly on each side with a walkway in between leading up to the raised platform.

The man is as out of focus and indistinct as ever, but the woman is as clear as crystal.

_Something about this… Like it's on the edge of my mind. Why can't I remember? It feels… important…_

Taiasu focuses his attention on the man as he takes from his pocket a small ring and clumsily slides it onto the second left-most finger of the woman's left hand.

_No… this isn't right… it wasn't… was it? No…_

The more he focuses, the more clearly he can make the man out until finally, the illusion is lifted.

_That's not right… That's not right either…! That can't be!_

He sees himself, wearing a well-tailored, dark-colored suit coat over a white buttoned-up dress shirt with a striped purple tie, still wearing his hair cut so close to his head as to be all but absent, standing on a stool before the most beautiful woman he's ever seen in a simple yet breathtaking light cream-colored dress, the fringes of which come down over the tops of her feet. She wears her red hair in curls, adorned with a simple yet elegant corsage, which well matches her dress, above her left ear.

Both he and the one he watches can feel their heart pounding as she places a ring of her own on the second most left finger of the left hand of the version of himself in his dream, while he observes as a silent, invisible bystander.

_No, that's… that can't be… I was never… I've never even been in love before! How could this…!_

The woman leans forward, and he observes himself tenderly caressing her face with his right hand as the two share their first kiss as a married couple. The crowd stands and a gentle applause ripples through as the man standing before them announces their union.

* * *

His eyes snap open and the first thing he sees is the ceiling of the darkened room. He wipes the cold sweat from his forehead.

_Impossible… I've never even…_

The more he tries to deny it, the more cemented it becomes in his mind. This woman, his feelings for her, though he can't even remember meeting her, let alone falling in love with her, or anything in between. He kneads his forehead hard, trying to make sense of something impossible.

_I'd remember… I couldn't possibly forget something like… So why do I feel like this…!_

"Gha…!" He winces sharply, and a loud grunt escapes him as he attempts to roll over to bury his face in his pillow. A sharp pain in his back forces him to abandon his repositioning.

_That's right… I should be dead… Berserker split me in half like…_

The mystery of the woman he loves and the phantom marriage are pushed aside by a more recent memory—that of the boy, Emiya, and his live having been ended again as he threw Tohsaka and Illyasviel out of the way of Berserker's reckless assault.

_No…_

The memory plays out in his mind again. Berserker's wild swing cleaving into the boy, sending him tumbling to the ground. His insides pouring out of him. Red. So much red…

_Please no…_

"Kh… guh…" His soft, mournful sobs echo around the room as his tears stream down his face.

_Stupid… he was just a kid… He was…_

A soft sigh catches his attention, and he glances to his left, past the standing lamp to a simple wooden desk with a few drawers. Near a small and simple yet ornate clock with a gently swaying pendulum on the desk, sitting in a chair in front of it, a form rests her head. Her shoulders lift and fall in a regular rhythm. Tohsaka's red dress coat rests on the back of the chair in which she is currently taking her rest.

_Tohsaka… she must have…_

His head turns to his right, toward the two windows through which no light falls, and he slowly continues to look around the room. Behind his head is another window, and no light comes through it, either. Above the desk is a long window, and at the foot of the bed is a door slightly ajar. No light comes through the hall into which the door leads.

Tohsaka sits up in the chair and yawns, stretching one arm high over her head. She glances over at Taiasu, who rolls his head the other way, staring at the wall.

"Awake already?" she asks.

He says nothing, offering just a single, solemn nod.

"How are you feeling?"

"… Like every hell," he mutters. "Sorry… please tell me what happened. I think…" He sighs heavily. "I think there may be something wrong with my memories…"

"Something wrong…? From the fight?" she asks.

He shakes his head. "No… from before that… I've been…"

He stops himself, shaking his head again, and wincing as another shooting pain moves from his right shoulder to his left hip.

"Gh… ouch…" he grumbles as his head turns toward the girl, and he quickly wipes his eyes. "Sorry… it would take too long to explain. Just… I have to know."

He stares into her crystal-blue eyes. "What happened to the boy? What happened to Emiya?"

Tohsaka tilts her head. "Huh? He's fine," she says, brushing her hair back from her shoulder.

"What?!" Taiasu sits up quickly, and shooting pain fires through his back.

"GH-GHA! DAMN IT!" He leans forward, but the pain intensifies, forcing him to lean back. "Ow, ow, ow… Sorry, you said he's fine?" he asks, looking back at her.

"You should probably lay back down, but yes," she says, nodding. "He healed faster than you… Your injuries were already mending, but it looks like it will still take some time."

"That's… that's impossible…" Taiasu mumbles as his head hits the pillow, sending another brief searing blast of pain through his back and forcing a violent shudder. His stare falls to the foot of the bed. "I saw it… It was the last thing I saw. He shoved you both down and then…" His hand comes up to his face and covers his eyes. "He couldn't have lived through that…"

"I understand your doubt." Tohsaka says, smiling softly. "I couldn't believe it either, even as I was seeing it. He'll be sore, but he's alive."

He looks up at her again, trying to tell if her face belongs to someone in some delusional state of denial. Rather, her soft smile and relaxed posture reveal a calm, composed rationality belonging to a person who has accepted the reality she has seen with her own eyes.

He chuckles. "Kid must have more lives than a cat…"

Tohsaka nods in agreement. "That's two… then he'll have seven more," she says, walking toward the door. "It's been a while since you've eaten, right? I'll bring you something, so just stay still until I get back."

"I keep owing you…" he says, frowning softly. "But I'd like that," he says. "Thank you."

She slips out and a light in the hall clicks on. He watches as her shadow recedes and then heaves another deep sigh.

_I can't even fathom… How could he still be alive after a hit like that? How am I even alive? Wait…_

He closes his eyes for a moment to help him focus as he considers the remaining amount of life-sustaining aethereal reserves he has left.

_That's bad… it's not a danger yet, but I couldn't fight like this…_

He groans in frustration, checking for his pack, and finds it missing.

"Damn… That's not great…" he grumbles, staring at the ceiling. "I hope I didn't leave it there…"

* * *

Tohsaka's shadow crosses entry of the room a few seconds before she does. She pushes the door open, carrying a tray with a spoon and a steaming bowl of rice porridge. She helps him to slowly sit upright and places the tray on the bed in front of him.

"It's not much, but it should be easy on your stomach," she says.

He nods as he claps his hands together before lifting, bringing a spoonful to his mouth. After a few seconds of blowing on it, he takes it in. There's, not much to the taste, but as soon as it touches his tongue his stomach roars indelicately, and his face flashes a few shades of red.

"It's good… Thank you," he says, digging the spoon in and bringing it up to his mouth again. "Sorry… Have you seen my pack anyplace?"

He blows on the spoon as Tohsaka turns the chair toward the bed and seats herself. She reaches under the desk and draws his pack out.

"This, right? You ran off right to fight after you did your thing with those larger crystals…" she says, placing it on the bed, at the foot of it.

Taiasu swallows what's in his mouth, blowing out a few times to cool his tongue.

"I had to… Saber was…" His gaze falls. "She looked like she needed help. I wasn't really worried about the pack. Thanks for grabbing it for me. What about those larger crystals?"

She nods. "They're in there… I still have no idea how that thing works, but I was able to fit them inside…"

Taiasu shrugs. "We've never really thought about it… There are a lot of things in my world that would make your head hurt if you think about them too much…"

Tohsaka laughs. "I can only imagine."

The small man takes another bite after letting it cool for a moment, and sets the spoon down on the tray, his gaze dropping again.

"So what happened… I blacked out after Emiya…" He frowns softly. "What happened after that? Can you fill in the blanks for me, please?"

"That idiot…" She frowns and palms her face while shaking her head. "Emiya-kun shoved myself and Illyasviel aside just before Berserker took his swing. That monster didn't seem to realize or care that his Master was in the way." She brings her hand up to her chin as her eyes narrow. "She got him to settle down after that. I think she used her Command Spell to make that happen. After that, they just… left."

His eyes widen. "She just left? They just left…? That's… odd." Then he grins. "But good for us, right? If they hadn't…" His grin quickly drops as he shakes his head. "What about Saber? How's she doing?"

Tohsaka nods. "She's fine. She'd recovered before those two even left," she says. "Servants heal quickly… well, Saber seems to heal more quickly than most." She sighs heavily. "The more I learn, the more I regret I didn't get her instead…"

The spoon clanks against the bowl as Taiasu finishes the last bite of the food Tohsaka had prepared. "Sorry… can you move this for me, please?" he asks, gesturing to the tray.

She nods and lifts it, setting it on the desk. He winces against the sharp pain in his back as he leans forward to grab his pack and drag it across the bed toward himself. Another shooting pain as he sits up again forces another shudder, and he frowns sharply.

_Damn it…_

He closes his eyes and takes in a deep breath. The air around him shifts softly and swirls around him as a delicate, sky-blue light mixes into it. Both fade after a few seconds, and he rolls his shoulder, wincing needlessly on reflex. Rather than a sharp, shooting pain, it's little more than an intense, discomfortingly tight sensation that radiates through his back now.

A relieved sigh frees itself from him as he opens the pack at his feet.

"What was that?" Tohsaka asks. He looks up at her and finds her staring, wide-eyed.

"Naitan," he says. "Releases stored aether to accelerate the body's natural recovery processes… Can't use excessively because it has a tendency to accelerate the body's natural aging processes as well…" He frowns sharply. "At least, that's what they told me when they taught it to me…"

He looks back down at his pack. "This… might take a while…" he mutters, reaching in and pulling out two sets of six crystals, three at a time, and arranging them into two groups.

"How many this time?" Tohsaka asks, watching with a casual smile.

"I'm in no danger of imminent death…" His voice trails as the color from the crystals drains. He shakes his head as he replaces them and brings out two more sets. "But with… that guy… Sobervre, he called himself. With him in the mix… I have to be ready. It's not ideal, but… two hundred." The light and color from the third and fourth set fade and he returns them to the pack, bringing out two more.

"That's how many you said yesterday…" Tohsaka says, continuing to watch as the light from the next two sets dims and fades. "You stopped at a hundred and twenty five, right?"

Taiasu glances up at her, dropping a crystal he'd been returning to the pack. It rolls toward the edge of the bed and she catches it before it falls, placing it with the others.

"Um… yeah… I'd forgotten…" he rubs the back of his head. "Thanks again…"

"So who was that guy?" she asks. "He seemed to know you."

He stuffs the remaining faded crystals into this pack and yanks out a few more.

"It's… a long story. They all are… I'll try to cut it down to the most relevant bits," he mutters, as the color from the crystals dims and vanishes, and he stuffs them back in, bringing out another set.

"They're called Ascians," he says, fumbling a bit as he arranges the next two sets. "They've been… problematic. They're trying to bring about the restoration of their god-figure…" The colors from the crystals vanishes, and the room goes dark again as he shoves them into his pack, and brings out two additional sets.

"Problem is, and I only learned this recently, that their path to success is fraught with untold levels of catastrophic destruction. The last calamity…" His hand clenches tightly for a moment, and he forces it to relax as he shoves the depleted crystals into his pack and brings out two more sets.

"The last Calamity… It involved one of those Primals I told you about," he says, siphoning the next two sets. "Bahamut, he was called… It was terrible. The entire continent was sundered… I hadn't even my start as an adventurer, so there wasn't anything I could do then."

"I don't know what a Calamity is in this context, but I can guess…" Tohsaka says, nodding her head for a second before stopping. "Hold on…"

He stares silently at one of the empty crystals for a moment before stuffing it into his pack, along with the rest and bringing out another two sets of six.

"Bahamut…?" Tohsaka's gaze drops. "That sounds like it should be familiar… Wait, like the dragon from that Arabian myth?" she asks, looking back up.

Taiasu stares at her blankly. "I only understood the words dragon and myth," he mutters, looking back at the crystals as the light from them winks out. He placing them into the pack and then kneads his forehead for a moment and stairs at the ceiling, counting on his fingers.

"That was… fourteen," he mutters, before dumping out two more sets. "Bahamut is… Was a powerful primal in the form of a dragon in our world," he says. "I'm not… a historian, but I know a little." He puts the crystals away and brings out two more sets.

"Sixteen…" He rubs the back of his head. "… Right. Dalamud," he says. "Our world had two moons. One was called Dalamud the Lesser. It was a bright and vivid red, like an orb of blood that just hung in the night's sky. Eighteen…"

He exchanges the set of crystals for another fresh set.

"I can keep count if it would help…" Tohsaka says.

Taiasu looks up and smiles. "It would… Thanks. Just… let me know if I reach two hundred."

She nods and gestures for him to continue.

"So Dalamud… The Garleans… I mentioned them, but only briefly. They have a fixation with world domination. They claim their goals are noble…" He shoves the two drained crystal sets into his bag and yanks out several more crystals to form two fresh sets.

"Their methods are deplorable, regardless," he says, jaw set tightly and teeth clenched as the light fades from the crystals dims, casting his face in shadow. "They caused the Seventh Umbral Calamity when they tried to weaponize Dalamud. I don't know the details. Bahamut was imprisoned in the moon by another ancient and powerful civilization whose time has long since passed…"

He rubs his face roughly before returning the spent crystals and bringing another set out.

"When Garlemald tried to bring down the moon, it split open and freed Bahamut, and he wrought terrible destruction upon the whole of Eorzea."

"What's Eorzea?" Tohsaka asks.

"Hm…? Oh. That's one of the many continents on Hydaelyn." Taiasu says, glancing up at her for a moment before his gaze drops again. "It was catastrophic. The toll was unimaginable and life has only just started getting back to normal…"

His movement slows a bit as he returns the several spent crystals and brings out two more sets.

"That was the seventh Calamity. The Garleans caused it, but the Ascians…" He rubs his head, grumbling. "I don't know all the details. Just what I heard. I don't know how it works." He returns the spent crystals to his pack and brings out two additional sets.

"I just know what it does, and why they do it," he says as his eyes narrow sharply. The light of the next set of crystals reflecting in them dims and vanishes. "And what it causes… If that guy… if he's going to use that thing… the Holy Grail to cause another one…"

He jams each of the twelve dim crystals into his pack, and yanks out twelve more.

"I have to stop him," he says, mouth drawn in a tight frown.

"How does he know so much about you?" Tohsaka asks.

Taiasu laughs scornfully. "I've had dealings with them in the past," he mutters as the light in the crystals vanishes. "They don't have a physical form… They inhabit the bodies of others, living or… dead…" His voice trails at that last part as he replaces the crystals and brings out a paired fresh set. "That makes them hard to deal with but… We've managed to destroy two of them quite permanently." He looks up at Tohsaka again.

"I say 'we' because… well…" his gaze drops again and his eyes droop. "Moenbryda… sacrificed herself… so we could do away with the first. She gave her life so I could form the weapon needed to eliminate Nabriales. He was the first Ascian we managed to destroy. It wasn't a free victory… She was good friends with Urianger… She enjoyed giving him a bad time."

He grins and laughs for a second before looking up. "Sorry. I know you don't know them…"

Tohsaka shakes her head. "It's alright. I can tell, you like talking about them."

He nods and glances back down, returning the exhausted crystals and bringing out a fresh set.

"I do, but this is already probably longer than it needs to be," he says. "The Ascians work to restore their god with wanton disregard for the impact it has on the lives of those their actions effect."

"So it's just you trying to stop them?" Tohsaka asks.

Taiasu's eyes widen as the light from the crystals dims and disappears. He looks straight into her eyes. "Never," he says with a single firm head shake. "For whatever reason, Hydaelyn chose me to be her… 'Warrior of Light' but I could never accomplish anything on my own. 'Breyda proved that when she…" His voice trails as his gaze falls again. He turns his attention back to the crystals and returns them to the pack, bringing out another two sets.

"There were others before me, but we knew less than we do now," he says, watching the color disappear from the fresh set of crystals. "The guy I told you about… Thancred. He introduced me to this group of people called the Scions of the Seventh Dawn. Sort of a rag-tag group of adventurers who swore to be peacekeepers of a sort. At least, that's how I understood it based on what Momodi told me… Kch…" He clicks his tongue and kneads his forehead.

"Momodi was sort of like my adventuring wet-nurse…" he mutters. "She helped me find my feet when I arrived in Uldah… and now it's getting complicated," he says with a sharp frown as the last light within the current set of crystals vanishes.

Tohsaka laughs. "That's quite a vivid image…"

He sighs, returning the spent crystals and bringing out another couple sets. "Well, she's like me. You know. Short." He smirks and then laughs. "All Lalafell are. We run the gamut from diminutive to tiny. I went to meet their leader, who would become a good friend of mine… She told me more…" He frowns and shakes his head. "It was hard to listen to everything she said… mostly because of how…" He turns bright red. "Taken… I was with her when I first saw her." He shakes his head.

"She wasn't the most… modest of dressers, but even if she had been, she was… quite fetching…" He closes his eyes, remembering his first impression as the crystal's light dims and disappears.

The first thing that struck him was her top. Pink and tight, and it accentuated her bust to where you couldn't help but have to force your eyes to look away It melded into the rest, which was white until just below her shoulders, where the sleeves were light blue. It stopped just below her bustline, leaving her entire mid-drift exposed.

She wore long dark leggings that ended at the dark, flat-bottomed shoes she wore, and a waist-cape similar to Archer's, though hers was a darker red and served as a dress that opened at the front.

Her eyes were a light blue, and her blonde hair was worn in quite an intricate style. Parted on the left, she wore half of it loosely over the right side of her face, and the left side was braided tightly to her head. Part of the braid hung loosely behind her left ear. The rest came back to meet her hair that was tightly bound and worn up in the back.

His eyes snap open and he gives a completely unconvincing cough. Tohsaka smirks as her eyes narrow slightly.

"So you thought she was cute, then?"

Taiasu blushes furiously and frowns. "Yeah, but that's only because she was," he mutters, jamming the lifeless crystal husks into his pack and dumping out twelve more.

"She told me they were the Scions of the Seventh Dawn, that they transcended political boundaries, and that their objective was to preserve the future of Eorzea," he says, smiling.

"Sounds like our United Nations…" Tohsaka says.

Taiasu glances up from the crystals as their light dies and arches his eyebrow. "United what, now?"

She shakes her head. "Oh, no. That's far beyond the scope of this conversation and way more complicated to get into than it's worth."

He shrugs and puts the spent crystals away before readying another set.

"She explained their chief concern, the emergence of the Primals and the threat they posed…" He sighs and shakes his head. "This is already running long… She told me about the Echo, which I had no clue about before, even though it had resonated a few of times before that…"

The light from the crystals extinguishes, and he stuffs the crystals away and brings out some more.

"She asked for my help in dealing with the Primals and that's how things got started," he says with a sigh. "Feels like ages ago… She was the leader, but she wasn't a fighter. Fortunately, we had plenty of muscle. We worked together. First in subduing the Primal threat, and then on other issues. Eventually, the Ascians started showing their hand… We even lost one of our own to them, temporarily. The one called Lahabrea. He subsumed Thancred's will and took over his body."

"Lahabrea… That other guy mentioned that name."

Taiasu nods. "Yeah… we were able to get him out of Thancred, but we hadn't seen the last of him. But this is already so far off the rails." He heaves another heavy sigh. The crystal's light vanishes, and he slides the crystals into his pack before bringing out another two sets.

"So that guy would know me because I've had to deal with him and his ilk before," he says, grinding his teeth. "I didn't understand the scope and reach of their influence until just recently…"

"Well… If it makes you feel better, if that guy is interfering with this, then it makes it our problem too," Tohsaka says, frowning. Taiasu glances at her again as the last light from the current set winks out. "I get the feeling he'd have been here whether you'd come…"

"That's a horrifying thought…" Taiasu mutters, putting the lightless crystals away and bringing out two more sets. "I'd like to know how he even got wind of this place and your Artifact…"

Tohsaka nods, and her eyes widen. "Something else you said… You thought you were having memory troubles?"

He sighs again. "Yeah… It's been a few days now, but… I've been having these weird dreams. There was this woman…" His face heats instantly and turns beet red, and stays that way regardless of how hard he shakes his head.

"Tch… Damn it…"

He palms his entire face with both hands, kneading it vigorously and trying to calm down his heart, which thrums aggressively in his chest.

"I thought I'd never seen her before…" he says, voice muffled. "These dreams seemed to play out a sequence of events." He reaches down with one hand and starts stuffing the dull crystals away before he brings out another baker's dozen, less one.

"Then I saw this guy I didn't recognize. That was the night before last," he mutters, as he places his free hand on one of the two sets, draining it. "Then yesterday after that business with Lancer… I had another one where they…" Despite his embarrassment, a warm smile melts its way across his face.

"They started seeing one another…" he says, moving his free hand to the other set. "And then last night… they got married but this time…"

His smile drops into a hard frown.

"This time, when I looked, the guy was… me." He rests his elbows on his legs and buries his face in his hands, rubbing it vigorously.

"Wait, you're married?" Tohsaka asks, tilting her head.

Taiasu shakes his own violently. " _NO!_ Er… no… at least… I'd have said that yesterday but… Now I don't know, and that's why I'm bothered…" His hands drop and he shuffles the spent crystals away, bringing out more in their place.

"Maybe it was just a dream?"

He sets his hands on the two crystal sets and his eyes drift closed. "I'd have said that too, but… I mean, how could it be just that? Everything was so clear and vivid… and the more I think about it, the more I feel like something is there…" He frowns softly. "Like it's just on the outside of my mind… But there's more than that…" His eyes open slowly and he returns the spent crystals, bringing out more.

"What's that?" Tohsaka asks, resting her chin in her hand.

"It's how I feel about it…" he says. "When I woke up after that… it was like my heart knew it was true… but if it is…" His frown sharpens and his teeth grind against one another. "Then I…"

The last of the light from the crystals dims, and he throws the crystals off the bed.

"Then I HATE MYSELF!" he yells. "How could… how could I forget that!? How could I forget I was married?! How could I forget I was…" His gaze drops to the bed spread as the crystals roll across the floor.

"How could I forget I was in love?" His chin drops to his chest. "I feel it more and more deeply every time I think about it. Her face, her voice… but I can't even remember HER GODS DAMNED NAME!"

His voice echoes around the room, and into the hallway as he buries his face in his hands.

"And… worse… Why the hell would I have even accepted a request to come here if I… if I was married…" He sighs heavily. "Sorry… I'm dumping all my problems on you…" he says, frowning sharply. "And all my crystals…"

Tohsaka shakes her head softly, gathering them up and placing them in his pack.

"It's fine… I can't understand, but… you said this dream was happening every night, right?" she asks. "That it's progressing every night?"

His hands relax and he nods. "Yeah…"

"Then maybe it will reveal something more the next time you sleep?"

"I… don't know how I feel about that…" he says. "I didn't say it, but the first night… when I woke up, it felt like…" His hands clench and his eyes close tightly. "It felt like something had reached into my chest and was trying to crush my heart. Like… something really terrible happened, but I couldn't remember what… Maybe there's good reason I forgot…"

The words no sooner leave his lips than his eyes snap open and he smacks his head repeatedly.

"I can't believe I just _SAID THAT!_ What the hells is WRONG WITH ME!" His hands drop again after a few seconds.

Tohsaka, whose eyes had widened considerably, drop back to normal.

"I can't say anything one way or the other…" she says gently, "but if something bad did happen, your mind may have blocked it out like some method of self-preservation…"

"I wouldn't want that…" he says, clenching his hands tightly. "I'd rather live with the pain and know I was in love and… loved this woman as much as I do…" His teeth grind loudly as he rips more crystals from his pack and slams them on the bed. "I hate that I can't remember. I hate myself for forgetting… For coming here…!" His mouth slams shut and his gaze snaps up to Tohsaka.

"I…! I didn't mean that!" he says. "It's just… if I'm married and I came here… that's the worst thing I could have done to her…" His gaze drops again, back to the crystals as their light fades under his palms. "The more I think about this, the less sense it makes…"

Tohsaka smiles softly. "Maybe it's better to stop thinking about it for right now then?"

Taiasu sighs heavily. "Yeah… you're probably right." He rolls the recently depleted crystals into his pack. "Thanks… sorry for chewing your ear so raw…" he mutters.

She shakes her head. "It's fine. I'm going to go check on Emiya-kun…" she says, walking toward the door.

"Ah…! Hey, where—"

"Forty-eight," she says over her shoulder, flipping on the light to the room and closing the door behind her.

"—was I… thanks!" he says after her, through the closed door.

Tohsaka shakes her head on the other side of it.

_What the hell is going on with him…_


	29. Purpose

Another dream, not one of the small man, but of someone else. The boy, Emiya Shirou. A dream of events from five years past.

He sits on the deck of his house with his adopted father. The man who had saved his life from the raging firestorm of ten years past sits beside him in a comfortable white kimono with a dark sash, keeping it secure. His eyes are dull and gray, and tired, and his dark hair, short and rough cut, rustles in the gentle evening breeze. The moon is full, though obscured by the roof hanging over the deck. Despite it being winter, the weather is quite comfortable.

_I remember this… Kiritsugu wouldn’t leave the house much during this time… Why didn’t I notice it…_

“When I was young, it was my goal to become a superhero.” The man, his adopted father, Kiritsugu’s voice cuts into his thoughts in his dream, saying something that sounds absurd coming from the mouth of an adult.

“Wanted?” Shirou, the younger Shirou, the one he is in his dream, asks. “What happened? Did you quit trying?”

The man nods sadly. “There’s a limited amount of time to achieve such a goal.” he says. “When you become an adult, it’s no longer realistic to aspire to such things… I wish I’d known sooner.”

_I remember this… I thought he was right, because it was him saying it…_

“So it can’t be helped then, huh?” Shirou says at his father’s answer.

“Unfortunately not…” Kiritsugu says in agreement.

The boy, the boy in the dream, smiles brightly. “Then I’ll take your place. Since you can’t anymore, right? I’ll do it. I’ll achieve your dream for you.”

The man laughs. Then, after taking in a deep breath, he speaks his last words.

“Thanks—That takes a lot off of my mind.” His eyes drift closed as he lays down on the deck, and with that, his life ends in the evening’s quiet. Shirou can feel his eyes growing hot, despite his lack of form.

_I thought… he was just sleeping… I didn’t want to disturb him… Why didn’t I realize he was dying…_

The younger Shirou looks at the man who has entered life’s final slumber. The night, fittingly, is as silent as a tomb. Shirou watches himself silently weeping over his father’s lifeless body, realizing he sleeps, but not in the traditional sense.

_I can’t remember the last time I cried after this… Not even at the funeral Fuji-nee’s father had planned… Even five years later, I’m still living in this house… Nothing’s changed…_

He sighs in his sleep.

_I still have to keep my promise… to the man who saved my life from the fire that day… No one else survived. Not even my parents… Just me._

* * *

Shirou's eyes gradually open in the dark of his room. A spacious yet simple room, furnished with little more than a futon and a desk. The door to the annex room beside it remains open, and the door to his closet remains closed. The window behind his small desk has no daylight coming through it.

_That dream…_

His hand comes up, and he wipes his face, and he brings it back dry.

"I'm in my room…?" He looks around for a few seconds, and rubs the back of his head. "How?"

As he speaks to himself, and his breath passes over his tongue, his stomach churns violently.

"My mouth… Why does it taste so bad? Did I forget to brush my teeth?"

The taste in his mouth settles in.

_No… it's not that. This is blood… Why do I taste blood?_

He takes in a deep breath.

"I need to get to the bathroom…"

He stands up despite his protesting stomach. The moment he's on his feet, the room spins around his head. His hand flies out against the wall, keeping himself upright.

"Gh… I'm gonna… be sick…" He holds his hand against his mouth as he slides toward the door, pushing it open. "Feels like I'm swimming through tar…"

He wipes his forehead, and his unsteady steps carry him out and through the hall toward his bathroom, using the wall to support himself along the way. He pushes the door open to a simple bathroom. A sliding door divides the area with the sink from the bathing area, which has a large, comfortable bathtub and plenty of space around it. The primary part of the bathroom has a normal sized, free-standing sink and a few towel racks, the lowest of which holds a single bath towel.

He clicks on the light, approaches the sink and runs some water, which he uses to wipe down his face and clean off some of his excess sweat.

"That's… a little better. Why do I feel like hell?"

He glances at his reflection in the mirror behind the sink, and his hand moves toward his stomach, where his jacket and shirt are torn to shreds, and toward the bandages wrapped around his torso and his sides.

"Why… what happened?"

He shakes his head and his stomach rumbles softly.

"Damn it… I hope I have something left over."

Shirou walks from the bathroom to the living area. Every step he takes is punctuated by a soft groan or grunt in response to his body's repeated protests.

_What the hell happened to me…?_

He enters the living area and looks around, rubbing the back of his head.

"Guess Sakura and Fuji-nee left for school already… Why is the light on?"

A soft clatter from the kitchen adjacent to the living room draws his attention.

"Huh? Who's there?" He lumbers toward the kitchen and pokes his head in and then stumbles backward several steps.

"T-T-Tohsaka! What? How? Why?!"

Tohsaka, in her usual school clothing and a simple apron, stands observing a pot on the stove. She glances back over her shoulder.

"Sorry for coming into your house without asking, Emiya-kun," she says. "I hope you don't, mind. I'm making something for the small guy. If you'd like, there should be enough left for you too."

"S-small… guy?" Emiya's eyes bulge. "Wait, no, before that, why are you in my house?"

She looks back at the pot and sighs. "You forgot everything about last night, didn't you? Small wonder…" she mutters as she stirs the mixture in the pot, a mixture of soaked rice and boiling water, before replacing the lid. "You should sit before you fall. Your face is white as a sheet…"

"My… face…? Wait, no stop. What happened last—!"

The series of events that transpired play like a clip show through his mind. Berserker maiming Taiasu, then slamming his weapon into Saber, sending her sailing. Tohsaka blasting the giant with some sort of anime-rainbow-prism attack, doing little more than pissing him off and drawing his attention. Berserker reaching back with his weapon, and his split-second decision to shove the two girls out of the way before —

"Hng… Ghu…" His gaze hits the floor, and his hand comes to his mouth as his stomach attempts to force itself upward. "That… happened…?"

He looks up, clutching his stomach and his mouth, and it takes a few moments before his stomach settles.

Tohsaka steps away from the pot and into the living area. "Sit down before you'll fall and tear your injury open." She lays out one of the nearby floor cushions and presses him down into it. "Seriously… I should be annoyed at your stupidity but…" She looks down and away, frowning softly. "I'd be dead if you hadn't…" Her voice trails off as she makes her way back to the kitchen and stirs the pot some more. "This is about ready. I'll leave you a bowl and I'll be back out after I ask the small guy some questions."

"You said that before. What did you mean? No, wait… Why am I alive before anything? I should be dead, right?"

Tohsaka sighs as she strips the apron, hanging it on the stoves oven door, and grabs a clean bowl from the dish strainer.

"Yes, by all rights, you dope," she says, scooping some prepared congee into the bowl. "I'm borrowing some of your ginger." She makes her way to the fridge and cracks it open, looking through it and frowning. "Wait, you don't have any—Oh, there it is… Why is this so poorly organized…?"

She grabs some root, and a paring knife and cuts a small piece off, placing the rest in the fridge and closing the door. She peels back the root's skin as she makes her way to the bowl while grabbing a small cutting board, also from the strainer. With quick efficiency, she minces the root into a fine mess and scrapes it into the bowl.

"That should make this easier to digest…" She grabs a spoon and steps into the living area Emiya sits at the table, on his floor cushion, eyes about to eject from his skull.

"I'll answer your questions when I get back…" she says, frowning and setting the bowl and a spoon in front of him. "Just eat this for right now. Seriously, why did I have to be everyone's nurse today?"

Shirou nods, taking the spoon in his hand, and mixes the ginger in with the rest of the rice porridge.

Tohsaka walks back to the kitchen and scoops some more into another bowl, grabs some more ginger, minces it finely, puts it into the bowl, grabs a spoon and mixes it, swears as she drops the spoon, grabs a fresh spoon and a tray, puts both the bowl and spoon on the tray, and carries it into the living area as Shirou stares in dumbstruck silence.

"Finish up with that," she says. "I'll be back in a bit, hopefully with some answers…"

"Wait, hold on…!" He stands up, but stumbles forward a few steps. Tohsaka quickly slides the tray onto the table and braces him up just before he falls.

"Emiya-kun, I told you…! Just sit… down…" Her face flashes a single shade of red as her hand presses into his chest over his shirt.

"Wow…" she whispers.

"Ah… sorry…" he murmurs, going a shade of red himself and sitting on the floor cushion.

She shakes her head, lifts the tray, and makes her way to the hallway, toward the room where Taiasu is staying.

_I didn't realize he was so… toned._

She takes in a deep breath and forces her complexion back to normal.

Shirou takes a bite of the food she'd prepared. The flavor is plain, but the ginger adds just the right taste, and the creamy texture passes smoothly to his stomach where it settles nicely.

_This is… great._

He takes his time with the simple meal, his mind humming with a thousand different questions and nobody to ask.

_Who was that weird guy with the attitude? Why am I not dead? Again? What happened to the small guy…? Tohsaka was talking like he was alive. What happened after I got hit?_

Each bite he takes offers no insight, but serves to sate his stomach. The spoon clanks against the bottom as he drops it into the bowl and picks it up, standing and carrying it to the kitchen, using the wall for support as his body continues to groan and complain. He places it in the sink, along with the spoon, and then runs some water over them both before making his way back to the floor cushion and sitting down, resting his head on the table.

His eyes drift closed and his breathing relaxes.

* * *

_"—HER GODS DAMNED NAME!"_

Shirou startles a bit as Taiasu's angry outburst echoes through the hall into the living area.

"Huh…? What?" He yawns, rubbing his eyes and attempts to stand. His body protests less this time, and he makes his way toward the source of the commotion. As he follows the noise, one of the many doors of his many rooms opens and Tohsaka steps out.

"Ah…! Hey, where—" Taiasu's voice comes from inside the room.

"Forty-eight," she says over her shoulder, flipping on the light to the room and closing the door behind her.

"—was I… thanks!" his voice comes muffled through the door.

She shakes her head, staring at the floor.

"He's in there?" Shirou asks, and she jumps.

"Emiya-kun! Jeez…" her hand rests on her chest. "Yeah, he's there. Sorry, but we had to borrow one of your rooms."

He shakes his head. "It's fine… I guess. You said you were going to answer my questions, right?"

She nods and starts toward the living area, walking past him. He shakes his head and sighs, following behind.

_She just comes right in and makes herself at home…_

Tohsaka grabs a floor cushion for herself, and they both sit down.

"Alright, so I guess the first thing I have to do is…" Tohsaka stares at the floor, gritting her teeth. "Thanks for last night…" she mutters. "For that stupid thing you did…"

"Huh?" Emiya's head leans to one side. "I mean… it was just a spur-of-the-moment decision… I didn't want to see you or her get killed like that…"

"Maybe, but it wouldn't sit well with me if I didn't at least say as much." she says. "I have to say one thing though—If you try anything like that with Saber, the best-case scenario would be her beating you soundly."

"Huh…? If I tried to save Saber, she'd hit me?"

Tohsaka nods. "Yes. If the Master dies, the Servant will disappear. There's nothing gained in you sacrificing your life for hers." She sighs heavily. "So don't try anything like that again, alright?"

"I… can't promise that…" he mutters under his breath.

"So what did you want to ask about?" she says, either not hearing or disregarding his comment.

"What did I want to ask… about?" Shirou stares at the table.

Tohsaka nods. "About last night? Or did you have something else in mind?"

"I guess what happened last night…" he says, looking up.

Tohsaka smiles softly. "That's probably the best place to begin. I didn't expect you'd be smart enough to start there."

Shirou frowns. "Why does it sound like your insulting me…"

"So what happened with last night," she says, pressing forward, "is that after you shoved us down and were split open, Illyasviel forced Berserker to yield and they left."

"She forced…?"

Tohsaka nods. "Yeah. Whatever that guy did… seemed to make him go on a rampage. I think Illyasviel had to use a Command Spell to make him submit."

"Okay… It's odd they'd just leave, but probably a good thing." His hand drifts unconsciously toward his stomach. "What happened after that?"

"Your body…" She chews her lower lip. "It started to heal itself. The worst of the external injuries were gone after about ten minutes. You were still unconscious, so Saber carried you home, and after I grabbed Taiasu's pack and those scattered crystals, I followed, carrying him."

"So he survived too?" Shirou asks.

Tohsaka nods. "He did, but you'd have to ask him about that… Let's stay on topic for right now. The most important thing for you to know about last night is you recovered from your injuries under your own power."

"How could that be?" he says. "I don't know any healing magic, or anything that could do that."

"Maybe it's a back-flow…" she says, resting her chin against her hand. "The summoning was fine, and it was you who summoned her, so there should have been a connection formed."

"You're talking about the karmic line between a familiar and a magus, right?"

Tohsaka's eyes widen subtly as she looks up at him. "So you have at least that much knowledge. That should make this less difficult."

Shirou sighs.

_She's pretty thrifty with those back-handed compliments…_

Tohsaka holds up her index finger as she goes into her explanation.

"I can't say for certain, but I think because of her overwhelming magical power, her natural regenerative abilities are flowing into you. It would generally be the other way, but…" She looks at the floor for a second. "If I had to compare you both, I'd say your magical power would be coming from a tap, and hers would be coming from a fire-hose. So it only seems natural it would go the other way."

"The other way… like a river flowing upstream?" Shirou says.

Tohsaka looks up from the floor and smiles again. "That's a good way to put it, yes. Her power is so great it does something as unnatural as pushing into you when it should be the other way around. It even lets her stand against something like Berserker despite her small size… Even after that guy in the cloak did whatever he did…"

"Unnatural…? So your relationship with Archer is more normal?" Shirou asks.

She keeps her smile as her eyes narrow softly, while she brushes her hair back from her shoulder. "That's right. He's not big on listening, but our familiar-magus relationship is of the more normal sort. You could compare the connection like fuel and a car. Here, we're the gas station. We provide the fuel, and the Servant is the car which uses it. That's how it works with Archer and I, anyway."

She folds her arms and goes on. "There have been exceptions. Master and Servant sharing the same body, granting a form of immortality to the Master until the Servant died… Emiya-kun, you're still listening, right?"

Her arms drop as she stares at him with a small frown.

"Huh? Yeah, I'm listening…" he mutters, looking up at her. "So basically my injuries should be fine, even if I do nothing?"

"At the cost of your Servant's magical energy, yes," she says, brushing her hair back again. "Just don't do anything too reckless. You were lucky this time, but don't let that go to your head."

Shirou sighs. "I get it. I feel bad enough drawing on her power to help me stay alive like that…"

"Idiot, that's not it," Tohsaka says, glaring at him. "I said I can't be sure. It's all hypothetical. It may be true, but it may be something else entirely. Your life span, your good fortune, or your savings account, but it's certain you're using to survive something like that."

"Pht… Tohsaka, I can't see how my savings account has anything to do with this," he says with a suppressed laugh.

"Of course it does!" she says, glaring at him from the side. "Magic costs money, so the more you use, the more it costs!" The vein in her temple throbs as she frowns sharply.

Shirou's smile drops.

_The more of these interactions I have, the more I feel like the Tohsaka at school is a complete facade…_

Tohsaka takes in a deep breath and kneads her forehead for a moment before letting her hands fall to her sides.

"We still need to discuss a few things…" she says. "For right now, I wanted to know what you planned to do now."

"What am I going to do…" the boy echoes her, frowning and staring at the floor.

_I was really hoping I wouldn't have to make my mind up on that yet…_

Emiya stands up slowly and walks toward the kitchen.

"I don't know. You're saying I should fight for this Holy Grail, but I've never even fought against another magi before," he mutters, bringing down a box of black tea leaves from the cupboard. "Before that, I—"

_I don't want to hurt or kill people… but even more —_

He takes the kettle from the back of the stove and fills it with water before setting it on a burner, turning the knob and igniting it. "I don't really even care about this thing. This 'Holy Grail'. It seems dumb to risk my life for something I don't even want."

Her head leans to one side as she watches. "Don't forget sugar for mine."

Emiya nods. "Yeah, I remember." He rifles through a drawer and brings out a couple of infusers.

"Thanks. Anyway, I figured you'd say something like that, but you shouldn't let your Servant hear you talk like that. Saber would probably do more than give you a savage beating."

"Why?" Emiya asks, eyeballing it as he fills the infusers with tea leaves.

"Because Master and Servant share getting the Holy Grail as the same goal. Or rather, they would if they were both normal," she says. "Part of the condition of their summoning is getting the Grail. That's the most important thing to any of them. They risk their life and obey their Master just for that, so she'd probably kill you for saying something like that."

He grabs two mugs from the cupboard and sets them on the counter. "That doesn't make sense. Servants are summoned by Masters, so—"

She folds her arms and sighs. "You really think something like a Servant would obey for no reward? The Grail grants the wish of whoever gets it, Servants included." Her hair falls over her shoulder as she turns her head. "And you're mistaken. Masters aren't the ones who do the summoning—that's done by the Holy Grail. They answer their Master's call so they can obtain the Grail. That's all there is to it."

The infusers clink as Emiya drops one into each mug.

_Does that mean… so Saber would have something she wants from it, too?_

Tohsaka turns her head back to look at him, and her left hair-bunch falls over her shoulder. "That's why Servants are trying to eliminate the other Servants, regardless of what their Masters say. Since only one can get the Grail, they can't accept another Master getting it. They can't force them to give up their command spells. All they can do is eliminate them."

The kettle whistles as the water comes to a boil, and he clicks the burner off.

"Battle is inevitable, even for a Master who won't fight," she says, crossing her arms. "You'll be attacked eventually and have to call on your Servant to defend you. Kirei said something similar, remember?"

Emiya frowns and sighs. "Yeah, he said that last night, but—"

His hand rests on the kettle as he stares hard at the floor.

_I was hoping for a less violent approach. Maybe a compromise, but if Servants are here just for the Grail, that seems less and less of an option…_

He lifts the kettle and fills each mug with the steaming water.

_What she said, that means the girl… Saber. She'd also be ready to fight, kill, and die to get this thing?_

"… That's terrible," he mutters, bringing down the sugar bowl from the cupboard. "Saber's as human as any of us. She bled just like I did when she got hurt…"

"That's not something to worry about," Tohsaka says, letting her arms drop. "Servants can't be killed. If they get eliminated, they just go back where they came from. Only Master's can be killed in this battle."

Emiya grabs a fork and uses it to pull out the infusers, dropping them into the sink, where they clatter for a moment before coming to a rest.

"But still…"

_I can't accept that. They look human. And bleed just like a human does…_

Tohsaka sweeps her hair back. "What, you're saying it's murder? Can you afford to think like that as a magus?" She frowns and glares at him.

He sighs heavily as he sets her cup down on the table in front of her, along with the sugar bowl before heading back into the kitchen to grab his.

_She's right. Magus are always courting death… I'm prepared for that. My death is one thing, but —_

He grabs his cup and walks with it back out into the living area.

"Of course I can. I won't be doing any killing."

"Really?" she says, smirking as she pours a couple of spoons of sugar into her tea. "So you'll just do nothing and wait for the others to come for you?"

Emiya shakes his head as he sets his cup down and then sits down himself. "No. I won't be killing anyone, but I won't hesitate to defend myself if I have to. Someone trying to kill me can't complain if they end up dieing, right?"

She sips her tea and smiles. "So you'll be fighting on the defensive then? That's fine for you, but what if someone like yesterday goes around killing everyone?"

Emiya frowns, and his gaze hits the floor.

_She means like that monster… She's right. It could probably flatten the town in a few hours._

His brow furrows sharply inward.

_That's not the worst thing… Servants are always in spirit form and humans can't see them. They can still affect the actual world, regardless, and there's nothing we could do to stop them._

He looks back up at Tohsaka. "What are you saying? Servants and Masters don't just fight other Masters?"

Tohsaka shakes her head softly before taking another sip. "I wish that were true. But if it were, would we really need someone like Kirei to supervise this?" Her cup clinks quietly as she sets it down and holds her finger up like she does when she's explaining something. "I should have said this before, but Servants are complete when they're summoned. They won't learn any new abilities or powers. But the magical energy that fuels them is different, and the more they have, the more they can use their powers, same as it is for us, understand?"

Emiya nods as his cup of tea remains untouched. "So they can use magic repeatedly?"

"Right. They don't get mana from nature. They can only act with what they have when they arrive, and what they get from us," she says, letting her arms drop to her sides again. "But an amateur Master wouldn't be able to stand against other Masters, right? So Servant's can supplement their energy using other sources. Specifically, being spirits, they would do so by consuming things like them."

"So eating spirits, basically?"

"Not quite," she says before taking another sip. "Servants are human spirits. If a spirit of nature got its powers from nature, where do you think a human spirit would get its power from?"

Emiya's jaw slacks and his eyes widen.

_Oh… of course._

Tohsaka smirks as she sets her cup down again. "So you get it. That's good. I don't like it either, but a weak Master would make their Servant, for lack of a gentler way of putting it, actually eat other people." Her smirk fades quickly and her mouth forms into a straight line. "Servants transform souls and emotions into magical energy. There have been Masters who have used such methods."

Emiya's teeth grind slightly as his eyes narrow. "So you're saying… if someone didn't care, they'd sacrifice people to make their Servant stronger?"

She nods. "Yeah, but most smart Master's wouldn't stoop to such tactics. First, there's only so much magical energy a Servant can hold, so having their Servant go beyond that would be meaningless." She frowns, folding her arms. "Then there's the Association who would come after you. And if those weren't enough, other Masters could figure your Servant's abilities from the cause of death, and possibly even identify the Master. There's a tremendous advantage in keeping your identity and that of your Servant a secret."

Emiya's gaze drops again.

_That makes sense. If they don't know you're a Master, they wouldn't come after you. And if you found out who a Master was, you could go after them._

Emiya breathes a relieved sigh. "That's good. Then there's no problem, since Servants wouldn't attack indiscriminately without orders from their Master, right?"

"Of course not. They're called heroes, and that's not a thing a hero would do, right?" Tohsaka finishes her cup of tea and sets the empty cup down gently. "Thanks for the tea."

"Sure…" he mutters, taking a sip from his own now lukewarm cup.

"I know this is taking a while, but we still need to talk about your guest from another planet," she says, running her finger around the rim of the mug. "And that other guy from yesterday, too. I spoke with Taiasu about who that guy was… I think I got the general idea. It sounds like he's going to be causing us problems."

"How would Taiasu be causing us problems…?" The boy's head tilts subtly.

She shakes her head. "Not him. That other guy… Sobervre, I think he called himself. Apparently he's from Taiasu's world…"

"So what does he want with our world?"

"He said last night…" Tohsaka says, frowning sharply. "He's planning to steal the Holy Grail. What a brazen guy, just coming right out and saying that…"

Shirou sighs and takes another sip from his cup. "Things got a lot more complicated, didn't they…? What's he got to do with the sm—with Taiasu? Besides their being from the same place? He talked a lot like they knew each other."

"They're not friends, if you couldn't tell," she says. "Apparently, they've been at odds for a while now… You'd be better asking him, but it sounds like they're trying to do something that could cause a lot of problems for the little guy and for those from his world."

"So what's he going to do now?"

"What I said I was going to do," Taiasu says. "Help."

Emiya and Tohsaka turn to see him stepping around the corner. Tohsaka's eyes widen as his attire reflects in her eyes. A variant of his red leather armor. Identical, but brilliant, shining shades of green, almost gaudy in appearance. At his sides are the two chakram that she had briefly wielded the previous night. He stares hard at the floor, frowning sharply.

"Just because I walked into that bastard's obvious trap like an idiot doesn't change the reason I came here." His hard frown shifts into a hard smirk. "Actually, it just gives me a reason to be here. After all, it's like you said, right?" he says, looking up at Tohsaka. "He might have come even if he hadn't duped me."

"Ah… yeah…" Tohsaka says, smiling softly. Her smile dips quickly and her eyes narrow.

"Hang on… How long were you back there, listening?"

"Not long. But I did hear you yelling from that room." He grins like an imp. "Something about magic costing money?"

Her temple-vein throbs again. "If you're going to say something different, I'll French-fry you."

"No, I agree… In principle, anyway," he says, nodding. "I mean, the finest things cost either time or money, and time is money. Quod erat demonstrandum."

Tohsaka's brows arch. "Latin…? How would you know Latin?"

Taiasu's head leans to one side. "I don't know what Latin is. That's just something we say in my world sometimes."

"We say it here, too…" Emiya says. "Maybe our worlds aren't so different."

"I don't want to think about that…" Tohsaka says, rubbing the sides of her head. "This whole thing is already making my head hurt. You finished the two hundred sets already?"

Taiasu shakes his head. "No… I stopped at around one fifty. I was feeling… funny," he says, frowning. "Not bad… but not good either, so I figured I shouldn't push it."

"Two hundred? One hundred fifty?" Emiya looks from Tohsaka to Taiasu, scratching his head. "What are you talking about?"

"Those crystals he uses." Tohsaka says, glancing up at him before looking back down at Taiasu. "Why did you change?" she asks, gesturing to his bright green derivative of his red leathers.

"Because this…" he says, walking toward Emiya, before leaning low to the ground.

A red light radiates from around his feet as he stands upright, gripping one chakram in each hand. He rolls his right arm back over his head and extends it behind him while extending his left arm outward toward the boy. As he does so, many pointed golden rings swirl out from around him, persisting for a few seconds before fading. Emiya's body emits a similar red light and several ephemeral, swirling, pointed golden rings in the same manner. After a second, the spectacle fades.

The boy's arms fall from his face, which he'd been shielding from the sudden light. "What was that…?"

Tohsaka's eyes widen. "I… know that…"

Taiasu nods. "And then…"

He brings both chakram over his head, and then one across his chest, under his arm, which holds the other ring suspended over his head. As he does so, another soft green wave radiates outward from both him and Emiya, accompanied by several swirling, golden pointed circles, basking all three of them in a warm light.

"Huh…?" Emiya blinks a few times. "What was…?"

Taiasu is hidden by a brief, blue light, which fades, revealing him standing in his familiar reds.

Tohsaka smiles warmly. "Emiya-kun? How are you feeling?"

"What do you mean?" He presses his hand into his bandaged stomach for a moment without wincing, and then stretches toward the ceiling and grunts, but only as his shoulder pops audibly. "Huh? That's… weird. I feel… fine. Great, even. What was that?"

"Waltz of Healing," Tohsaka and Taiasu both say at the same time.

He looks up at her with a grin. "So you got to keep the stones knowledge, too?"

"I guess so…" she says, nodding.

"Okay… That's what it's called, but what does it do?" Emiya asks again.

"What it sounds like," Taiasu says. "Melds aether with… guh…" His gaze drops like a weight and his face turns a shade of red. " _Kriegstanz_. Then I can release it and anyone it affects will recover from some of their injuries. It helped me too…" He stretches as well, and bends down to touch the floor, and his back offers little complaint.

"Krieg… stanz?" Emiya's head tilts.

"War Dancing." Tohsaka says, kneading her forehead. "That's German… now my head really hurts…"

"The thing before causes a person I choose to mirror the effect. That's why you glowed too. War Dancing isn't my favorite…" Taiasu mutters. "I picked it up, but the group I learned it from needed help, so I stuck with them and by the time we'd finished working together, the soul crystal they gave me had completely opened to me."

"Why not your favorite?" Emiya asks, rolling his shoulder and stretching again. "If it can do things like that, it seems pretty useful…"

"A few reasons…" he mumbles, staring a hole in the floor. "I'd rather not get into them."

"That's fine. But back to what you were saying before," Tohsaka says, looking down at him. "You were saying you're going to help? How are you planning to do that?"

Taiasu frowns and sighs. "Still trying to figure that part out… Ascians are… difficult. The best we've been able to do is run damage control against their efforts. Tracking them down is impossible. You saw how Sobervre was." He folds his arms. "They're master manipulators, and they love the long game. He'll hold out for as long as he has to and come in at just the right moment to get what he wants. In the meantime, he'll sit, wait, watch, and probably laugh the entire time."

"So all we can do is wait for him to move on his own?" Emiya asks.

Taiasu nods stiffly. "Afraid so. He'll move on the Holy Grail when it appears, and I'll have to be there to stop him."

Tohsaka shakes her head. "Not just you."

"Huh?" Taiasu looks up at her. "I don't understand…"

She smiles again. "It's fine. You will after this. It leads nicely into what I wanted to talk to Emiya-kun about, anyway." She looks from Taiasu back to him.


	30. Bag Space

"You still had more things you wanted to talk about?" Emiya asks.

Tohsaka nods. "I know what you said before, but I was hoping I might have swayed your decision. Are you still planning on sitting at the sidelines?"

The boy stares at the cup of lukewarm tea in his hand, frowning as the girl stares him down with a smirk.

"Not… entirely," he says. "If someone steps out of line, I'll stop them. They should settle down if they lose their Servant. If they won't stop after that…" His stare falls and he frowns sadly.

Tohsaka crosses her arms and sighs as her gaze drops. "You're contradicting yourself, saying things like that, you know?"

"I know. But I won't change my mind."

"It's not a bad way to be," Taiasu says. "Fighting is… It should be a last resort, but it seems like it's the first thing that happens in this sort of situation."

"But you've fought before, right?" Tohsaka asks, glancing at him.

"When I've had to. To protect people I care about, or to stop…" His voice trails for a moment. "To stop terrible things from happening."

"This situation is like that," she says. "If Emiya-kun sits back and does nothing, terrible things will happen. Well… they might happen. I don't plan to sit by and do nothing while someone goes around slaughtering innocents. But then there's the matter of someone like Illyasviel."

"What about her?" Emiya asks.

"You think she'll just sit back and do nothing, after something like last night? There's a better than even chance she'll be coming after us." She looks from Taiasu back to Emiya as she pushes her hair back.

The boy's stare bores a hole in the table.

_Damn it. She's right…_

"Even with what Sobervre did?" Taiasu asks. "I was out, but you said she had to force Berserker to calm down, right?"

"She did, but she's still in this game and she'll have to play it through. Her Servant is on a completely different level. Emiya-kun can't match him, and he lacks experience as a Master. The best he could hope for is to defend himself, but even that's probably expecting too much."

Emiya shakes his head. "Yeah, but you couldn't beat him either, right?"

Taiasu frowns. "I couldn't, either. I hit him with my best shot and even split his head open, and he just got up again. How does that happen?"

Tohsaka rests her chin in her hand. "Maybe it was because of what that guy did. It was a good hit, though. But Emiya-kun is right in that I couldn't defeat him head on, either."

"So none of us can take him alone…" Taiasu says, his voice trailing off. "What are you thinking, Tohsaka?"

"None of us can choose to sit around doing nothing until this is over," she says.

"I get that," Emiya says. "So say what you're thinking. Unless you're just going to stand there and leave us to our fate."

"I like to think I'm a better person than that," she says with a sharp frown and a sharper glare. "You still don't get it? I'm asking if you want to form an alliance."

Taiasu's eyes widen.

_An alliance! They wouldn't have to fight each other, right?_

Emiya's gaze rises from the table and locks on to Tohsaka's. "Join up? You mean you and I?"

She shakes her head. "Not just you." She looks down at Taiasu as well. "Him, too. If this Sobervre guy is going to be causing us trouble, I think we'll need his help, right?"

Taiasu's jaw drops. "Wait… really? I was thinking I'd just have to face him alone. You're inviting me along?"

She nods. "Don't be so surprised. Despite how things worked out yesterday, you held your own pretty well. And weren't you the one going on and on about how you didn't want to fight either of us?"

He nods slowly. "Yeah… but… I mean… No wait, what am I even saying!" He shakes his head roughly before clapping his face, and it beams with a ridiculous grin. "Yeah! I'd be happy to help! As much as I can!"

Tohsaka nods. "I figured. What about you, Emiya-kun?" She asks, looking back at him now. "Archer is still wounded, and it's looking like it will take some more time before he's battle-ready. And your Servant is top-tier, but she has you dragging her down, so this should benefit all of us, right?"

"I'm not that bad…" he says, frowning.

"Even though you died twice yesterday?" she says, smirking and laughing with her eyes. "I've never heard of that happening before."

His mouth clamps shut at her provocations.

"How about this? I'll sweeten the deal. I'll teach you what I know about being a Master, and if we have time I can see about polishing your skills as a magus. Sound fair?"

He looks at the ground while he thinks.

_She's not wrong… I know I'm lacking as a magus and as a Master. I don't want to be dragging Saber down… And then there's this guy…_

His gaze falls to Taiasu, who continues to stare at him expectantly with wide and shining green eyes.

_She's got another point about that other guy in the cloak. What did this guy call him? An Ascian? Taiasu seems to know a lot about him… And the small guy doesn't seem like a bad person. Just odd…_

He sighs heavily and his shoulders slump forward as his forehead thumps against the small coffee table. Tohsaka continues to stare at him and folds her arms, waiting for his answer.

_And I don't want to fight Tohsaka… Not just because of my feelings toward her, either._

His head rolls to one side, and he looks up at her as she continues waiting with a soft frown.

_She's so different from how she is in school. I actually think I prefer her this way—wait, what the hell am I even going on about? This isn't the time for this nonsense. I need to answer her properly!_

Her frown hardens subtly. "Emiya-kun? What's your answer?"

He sits up and sighs again. "All right. I'll accept your offer, thanks. It will be an enormous help."

"Yeah!" Taiasu says with an eager grin.

Her frown shifts into a small smile. "Then until we can defeat Berserker, and handle this Sobervre guy, we'll be allies."

"Ah—" Taiasu's grin melts in a second.

_Only until… then…?_

His gaze hits the ground like a dropped hammer.

_But what happens after…_

He shakes his head. "No, stupid… worry about that later. Just take the win."

"Hm?" Tohsaka looks down at him. "Something wrong?"

"Yea—er, no. Just over-thinking things, I guess."

She shrugs and extends her hand out toward Emiya, who grips it, and they exchange a firm hand-shake. The moment his hand touches hers, his face turns several shades of red and he quickly pulls it back.

She frowns and her eyebrows raise slightly. "What's wrong? Having second thoughts?"

"No, it's not that," he says, shaking his head. "This is going to be a big help. Huge, really, so don't worry about it. It's not that." He repeats himself as his words tumble out of his mouth like a jar of spilled pennies.

Tohsaka grins as she watches his flustered reaction. "Oh, I see…"

"W-what?" he mutters.

"Was that the first time you've held a girl's hand? Despite having so many friends, you seem quite shy, Shirou."

Taiasu glances up at her.

_Huh…? She's calling him that now?_

"It's not that! It's just—" He cuts himself off.

_It's because it's you! Jeez… Wait… hold on. Did she just call me —_

Tohsaka laughs and smiles. "You really can't hide your feelings, just like I heard. Well, I'll let it slide for now since it would be a problem if you started sulking. I'll leave you with this, too."

She brings out a large tome from beneath the coffee table and sets it on top. "I'd planned this discussion from the start. If you'd said no, I'd have had to lug this thing back home."

The book has no title, and the cover is red like wine.

"It belonged to my father, but I don't need it anymore, so I'll lend it to you."

Taiasu's eyes widen substantially.

_That's the book from what the Echo showed me… So that guy was her dad?_

She stares at Emiya expectantly, and he reaches toward the tome and flips it open.

"So what's in…?"

_Huh?_

As soon as his hand touches the book, an image flashes into his mind. An armored knight holding a sword upright, and incomprehensible text, as if scribed on a piece of paper.

"Tohsaka? What is this?"

She nods. "So it works for you. That's good. It has detailed information about each of the Servants. You know some rules for the Holy Grail War. This has the Servant's rules in it." She points her finger upward, going into explanation mode. "Seven heroic spirits get summoned, but only after being assigned a predetermined class the Holy Grail prepares in advance."

"Classes?" Taiasu looks up at her. "That's like what you said last night, right? About why I shouldn't let Saber hold one of the Soul Crystals?"

Tohsaka nods, folding her arms. "Right. Each heroic spirit is an effigy called to and placed in a class similar to it."

"Ah!" Emiya's eyes widen. "So that's why Saber is Saber!"

She nods again. "Right. Servant's need to hide their identities, so they refer to themselves and each other by their class designations. Seven in total; Saber, Lancer, Archer, Rider, Caster, Assassin and Berserker."

Taiasu counts each one off on his fingers.

_I wonder which one I'd be… I guess it would depend on the soul crystal I was using when I d… died…_

He shudders for a moment.

_Guh… I really hope that doesn't happen. This seems like a pretty lousy way to spend your time being dead._

"They change occasionally. Sometimes one or two differ, but this is the basic lineup," she says, holding her finger up again. "Most people agree Saber is the best Servant. Each class has their own specialty, but Servant abilities differ based on the rank of the spirit summoned into it."

"Rank…?" Emiya says, taking another sip from his cup. He frowns and sets it down. "So you mean how strong they were when they were still alive?"

Tohsaka lets her arm and finger rest for a moment. "That's part of it, but also how well renowned they were when they were alive. Some things, like their weapons, stay the same, but if they're really famous in this time, their abilities can change. Conversely, forgotten heroes wane in strength and ability, though they still keep their powers to some extent." She rubs her chin softly. "At least, I think that's how it works…"

"So someone really well known…" Taiasu stares at the floor.

_Someone like Zenos would probably be an absolute terror._

"They'd be a Rank A Servant," Tohsaka says. "Berserker is probably the strongest in that regard, too. If he is who I think he is, he's the most famous hero in Greek mythology. Heroes from that time all have special Noble Phantasms just for that reason. If the class, Phantasm, and hero are all strong, there's not much we can do." Her gaze falls as she anxiously grips her arm with her hand.

"Tohsaka… sorry, but what's a 'Noble Phantasm'?" Emiya asks.

She looks from the floor back up at him. "Something that the Servant used when they were alive. Heroes and their weapons come as a set, right?"

"So like Saber's invisible sword?"

She nods. "I don't know it's history, but it's definitely her Noble Phantasm. A legend can't be a legend just because of their name. Each has a trademark weapon. That's what the Noble Phantasm is."

Taiasu's stare intensifies.

_I wonder what mine would be… I have so many. Can you have more than one?_

"So basically, a powerful magical item?" Emiya says.

Tohsaka smiles softly, staring at him. "Right. Heroes can't match powerful spells or even more powerful divine mysteries. That's where Noble Phantasms will tip the scales, making it possible for the wielder to defeat a spirit several ranks higher. Most weapons appearing in legend are close to the level of sorcery."

"What's a Divine Mystery?" Taiasu asks, raising his hand.

Tohsaka glances down at him. "Ah… yeah, you wouldn't know that… Basically, extremely powerful, ancient magic, weapons, abilities and the like. Their power is directly correlative to how old it is."

"Directly… what?"

"The older it is, the stronger it is," she says.

"Oh. Okay, I think I get it. Thanks."

She nods, and glances back up at Emiya. "Anyway, things like swords used to slay dragons, the most powerful of the fantastic races, shoes like the sort Hermes wore, and even swords used to slay beings believed to be gods. Most battles between Servants will come down to their Noble Phantasms."

"So each Servant has at least one Noble Phantasm?" Emiya asks.

"Generally, yes. One Noble Phantasm for each."

Taiasu's stare bounces up from the floor toward Tohsaka's extended index finger.

_So that means I couldn't have more than one—Gh, what the hell, why do I even care?!_

He shakes his head vigorously and frowns.

"They can't be activated without evoking their proper name, though," Tohsaka says. "So they can't use them recklessly."

"Why would that be a problem?" Emiya asks.

"Because they're a pair," Taiasu says. "She said Servants have to keep their identity a secret, but if the Servant is well known, their weapon would be too, right? So if they yell the name of their weapon, it's the same as yelling out their own name."

Tohsaka nods. "Right. Just what he said."

"Ah… I see," Emiya says, nodding as well. "That makes sense."

He frowns and shuts his eyes, tapping the side of his head.

_So basically, Servants are split into classes based on what best suits them. They have to hide their identities, and their weapon is their trump card, even though they can't use them._

"That's all there is to say on Servants for right now," Tohsaka says. Emiya's eyes snap open, and he nods again.

"You should learn what you can from that book when you have time," she says, standing from her floor cushion.

"Servant's names, huh…?" Emiya says, staring at the book. "Oh yeah, that reminds me." He looks down at Taiasu now. "What were you so upset about, earlier?"

"Huh?" Taiasu looks over at him. "What, now?"

"Earlier. You were yelling something about someone's name?"

Taiasu rubs his chin for a moment, and his eyes widen. "Ah…"

"Emiya-kun, that's—"

"No… It's fine." Taiasu interrupts Tohsaka's soft protest. "If we're going to be working together, he should be made aware."

"Huh? Aware of what?" Emiya asks.

The small man heaves an extraordinarily heavy sigh. "My head problems."

"Head… problems?" His head tilts to one side as Tohsaka sighs as she sits back down.

"Yeah… Well, memory problems. One, specifically, as far as I know," Taiasu mutters, staring at the floor. "I think I've forgotten some things… or at least, one thing."

"Forgotten what?" Emiya asks.

His eyes slide closed, and he shakes his head. "It shouldn't matter…" he says. "And I don't even know for sure if it's the case yet. But I think I'm married." His hands clench tightly in his lap.

"Huh? Married? Why does that matter?" Emiya asks.

"Because I forgot, that's—!" He shouts before clenching his jaw. "Because I didn't remember it until this morning…" he says, quieter. "I don't know how far it extends. I don't know if there's other things I forgot, or if it's just this one thing. How would I even know if I've forgotten something if I can't even remember it to know that I've forgotten it?" His head drops into his hands.

Emiya frowns softly, staring at him.

_This sounds… sort of familiar… Didn't Kiritsugu used to watch something…?_

"Oh, yeah… I know where I've heard of something like this…" he mutters.

Taiasu glances up at him. "Huh? You've heard of something like this before?"

"Er…" Emiya stares off to one side. "Well… I mean… kind of?"

The small man jumps up. "Where!?"

"Huh?" Emiya leans backward. "I mean… It's from an old TV show…"

"T… v?" Taiasu's brow arches as he looks from Emiya to Tohsaka and back again. "What…?"

"They don't have Television in your world…?" Tohsaka asks, eyes widening.

"I'm going to have to say… no."

She points to a thin, rectangular black screen sitting on a small bookshelf in the room's corner. "Nothing like that?"

"Huh?" Taiasu turns, stands and approaches it cautiously.

_Nothing exactly… but it is like that thing… When we were dealing with—!_

The screen flashes from black, revealing figures moving about inside it, and Taiasu stumbles backward, smacking his head on the table.

"Ah! Omega—!"

Ater a flash of blue and the sound of metal slicing through the air, sparks fly and the smell of smoke briefly fills the room as the top of the thin, black rectangle falls to the ground.

"Where!? Where is it!?" Taiasu's eyes dart around, his sword clenched tightly in his hand.

He spins around to see Tohsaka and Emiya staring wide-eyed, and Emiya's hand holding a smaller black rectangle with several buttons on it, one of which is currently held under his thumb.

"Y-y-y-y-you… you…" The remote clatters pitifully to the table from Emiya's hand. "You… killed my TV…"

"Forget that, where is it!?" Taiasu yells, spinning around, sword at the ready.

"Where's what?" Tohsaka asks with a poorly concealed grin.

"Omega, that's what!" He frowns sharply. "Kh… damn it… I don't have time, but we had to fight this intelligent weapon from another dimension when I was back on Hydaelyn! It used things like that—" He points his sword toward the smoldering TV. "—the entire time to watch us!"

"Taiasu, I don't think that's what you think it is," Tohsaka says, barely restraining her laughter.

Emiya stands up, takes a few steps forward and falls before his ruined source of information both near and far.

"My TV…" he says, picking up the severed half from the ground. "Even I can't fix this…"

"Why would you want to!?" Taiasu yells, still darting his gaze around the room.

"So I can know what's happening in the world, that's why you… you…!"

Tohsaka finally breaks down and collapses over the table, laughing. "T-Taiasu… we… we use those… to watch things…!"

Seeing Emiya mourning over the smoking husk of the black rectangle and Tohsaka's unrestrained laughter causes him to settle down, and his face turns every shade of red in quick succession.

"You use that… to watch things…?" he says, quiet as a mouse.

 _"YES, YOU AGENT OF CHAOS!"_ Emiya cries out plaintively as he yanks the cord from the wall. "For things like knowing what's happening in the world, or for when we occasionally want to relax and enjoy ourselves! I was going to say you were reminding me of this show my father used to watch before you MURDERED MY TV!"

"Ah…" Taiasu's sword clanks to the ground. "I'm… sorry. I didn't know…"

Tohsaka's laughter re-doubles and tears stream down her face as she gasps for air while Emiya groans, palming his face.

"I can make this right!" Taiasu says, reaching into his pack.

"How?! Do you know how… much…?" Emiya's voice cuts short as Taiasu drops several gold coins onto the table. Tohsaka's laughter promptly ceases as her gaze falls to the coins on the table.

"I mean… I can try, at least? I don't know if—"

Emiya moves past him and grabs a coin to examine it. "What…?"

Tohsaka reaches across the coffee table and lifts one up as well. "Taiasu…?"

"I don't know if they'll be any good here… We had to jump through hoops to get them to accept gil in Kugane…" he mutters. "But they might…?"

"Currency doesn't… matter with something like this…" Tohsaka says, staring at the coin in her hand. "How… many of these do you have?"

"Wait, you guys don't use currency here?" Taiasu asks.

Tohsaka shakes her head. "No, we do… but… Are these solid? I mean, are they the same throughout?"

Taiasu nods. "I think so? Why?"

"Because if they're solid gold, it doesn't matter what currency they are…" Emiya says, spinning around with a huge grin. "One of these is more than enough. I take back everything, you godsend!" He heaves the small man into the air. "I can get as big a TV as I want now! Ah…" His eyes widen and he sets Taiasu down. "I mean…"

Taiasu shakes his head. "No… It's fine. I should make it right."

"One of those will probably buy two of what you destroyed," Tohsaka says, grinning and setting the coin down. "It feels like it weighs… about an ounce, so… maybe thirty grams each? How many of those do you have?" she asks, gesturing to the small pile on the table.

"Er… well, each one is a hundred gil… I have about two million gil worth, so…" he closes his eyes, and his head tilts forward as he pinches the bridge of his nose. "Damn it, I hate math… about twenty thousand, I think? Maybe a little more?"

"T-t-t-twenty… thousand… of… of solid… gold…?" Tohsaka asks.

Taiasu nods slowly, and her jaw drops as Emiya flops down into his seat cushion.

"Why do you have so much… How are you even carrying it around?" she asks, looking him over. "That's…" Her eyes close for a few seconds before snapping open again. "That's over six hundred kilograms of solid gold!"

Taiasu shrugs. "I just keep it in my pack, I guess?"

Tohsaka palms her entire face with both hands. "I have to see this world of yours."

"Before anything, we need to turn this into something we can spend…" Emiya says, starting at the coin in his hand. "It's going to raise a few eyebrows if we just try to buy something with these."

Tohsaka smirks. "I know what we can do… I imagine the Magic Association can work with us to get them turned into something spendable."

"So… are we okay then?" Taiasu asks, gesturing toward the smoking, bisected TV. "I'm… really sorry…"

Emiya sighs with a soft smile. "It's fine. I'm sorry I got so upset… It's just a dumb TV, anyway."

The small man frowns and sighs heavily. "There's still so much here I don't understand…"

Tohsaka laughs. "You don't say," she says, stretching as she stands. She sets the coin on the table and starts walking toward the hall from the living area.

"Tohsaka?" Emiya asks.

She glances back at him. "I need to get home," she says.

"You're just going by yourself?"

She nods.

"No, she's not." Taiasu says, scooping the small pile of coins into his pack. "I'll go too."

He turns and grabs his sword from the floor, returning it to his sheath.

Her mouth opens in a small circle as she glances down at him. "Why?"

He smiles. "Because you'd be vulnerable, right? Even if that weren't the case, I still need to drop these off…" he says, proving his point by removing one of the many, many inert crystals from his pack.

"Oh yeah…" she says, smiling again. "Things keep happening so fast, I keep forgetting."

Emiya stands as well and sees them out.

The sun has begun its daily walk across the sky as they make their way. The morning is quiet and there are few if any people. What few people they see pay them little more than a curious glance.

One, a middle-aged woman with short, dark hair, glasses and a blue dress, smiles and laughs.

"Keeping your big sister safe?" she says as she walks past.

Taiasu glances back at her, arching his brow. "What's she mean?"

Tohsaka laughs as well. "Check your waist, Taiasu."

"Huh?" He glances down and sees his katana. "Oh!" He palms his face. "I forgot…"

"In other news…" she says, grinning.

"People in your world are pretty relaxed," he says, stroking his chin.

"How do you mean?"

"Well… I mean, it's a sword. I'd think they'd be at least a little concerned."

She laughs again. "They probably think it's cosplay. People tend to believe what they want."

"What's cosplay?" he asks, looking up at her.

"It's a thing where people dress up in costume and pretend to be something else," she says. "It's pretty popular in some places in Japan." She glances down at him and smirks. "And since you look like that… Well, it's like I said. People see what they want."

They walk some distance in silence, passing several houses, trees, and fewer and fewer people who continue to pay them little regard. As they continue on their way, things look more and more familiar, and they eventually arrive at the most familiar—Tohsaka's mansion.

She steps in front of him at her door and gestures toward it. She breathes a silent incantation and then turns the knob and pushes the door in.

Taiasu's head leans slightly.

_She did the same thing yesterday…_

"What was that?" he asks.

"Just turning off the alarm," she says. "It's fine, come in. I need to make a phone call."

"Phone…?"

She sighs and palms her face. "Jeez, it's like having an actual toddler with super-powers… It lets me talk to people over long distances. Even if I can't see them or if they aren't in the same room."

"Oh. Like a linkpearl then?" he says, nodding and slipping off his boots as he steps inside, placing them next to her brown leather slip-on shoes.

"Link… pearl?" She glances down at him. "What's that?"

"What you just described, basically." He reaches into his pack and pulls out something like a blue oyster shell. She watches quietly as he holds it in his hand and it glows for a moment. He pops it open, and from it he removes a small blue pearl, then holds it out to her.

"This?" she says, reaching out and taking it.

He nods and his eyes close.

_'Is it working? Can you hear me okay?'_

"Ah!" She jumps, and the pearl bounces on her palm before she closes her hand around it. "What? Wait, what?" She spins around and looks behind her and, on finding nothing, turns back to Taiasu. "Did… did you just… right into my head?"

His eyes open and his head leans to one side. "Yeah. That's how they work… Oh!" He claps his face. "Sorry… This is mundane for me. I keep forgetting that things work a lot different here…"

Her eyes widen and her brow furrows slightly. "You should keep that thing to yourself…" she says, gesturing toward the oyster shell still in his hand. "Big Tel-Com would have you murdered if they discovered something like that exists."

"Big… what now?"

She sighs, groans and palms her entire face.

_I do not have time to get into the politics of big moneyed interests and what they would do to him if they felt their cash cows were being threatened by other-worldly technologies…_

"It would take too long to explain in detail," she says. "There are people in this world who really like being rich, and what you have there could be a threat to what makes them rich. And when that happens, people end up disappearing, understand?"

He glances down at the shell in his hand and looks back up at her.

"Not… even a little. People in my world like being rich too, and will occasionally fight and kill for it, but this is just for talking to people. How is it a threat?"

She stares hard at the floor. "What sort of world do you even come from…?"

* * *

The Clocktower Director sets the phone receiver softly on the base after having concluded what for, any other person, could be considered quite possibly one of the strangest conversations of their life. He folds his hands in front of him as he rests his elbows on his solid oak desk. The fire in the hearth crackles gently and is the only source of light in the otherwise dark room besides what little pours in through the open door, around the shadowed figure standing in front of it.

The Mage's Association is an international organization dedicated to the study, preservation, and concealment of all things mystical and magical from the world at large. The primary branch of the association, colloquially and humbly referred to as 'Clock Tower', is quartered in London, and is far more intricate and expansive than the name would suggest.

"Find Zelretch," the Director says. "This seems to be within his area of expertise."

The figure only nods, turns, and leaves, closing the door behind them.

The man at the desk sighs. "After two millennia, I really should learn to stop being surprised by things…"

One of the lower points of contact within Clock Tower had received a strange phone call about a new form of currency someone was looking to change into something spendable. The conversation progressed, and as more information was revealed—the source of the currency, the person who held it, where they came from, how they got here, what they were involved with—the call was quickly routed upward through the rank and file until it landed at his desk.

"Beings from parallel worlds are one thing…" he says to himself in the dark. "But beings from an entirely different universe…" His face turns upward in an anticipatory smile. "This could prove quite fascinating."

The phone at his desk rings again, and he sighs. "If only I had the time to pursue it personally…" He lifts the phone up to his ear.

* * *

Tohsaka places the receiver down and groans.

_Two hours… Two whole hours, and for what!? We'll get back to you!?_

She pulls her hand down her face, exaggerating her features.

"Didn't go well?" Taiasu asks, having been watching and listening.

He'd lost track of the number of times she was cut off mid-sentence, was forced to stand and wait only to get a couple more sentences out and then be cut off and forced to wait again. The few times he'd started to wander out of the kitchen area, she'd grabbed him, yanked him back, and forced him to the floor.

"No… It didn't," she says, chewing her lower lip. "I'd have thought they'd be excited for the chance, but they just ran me around and then gave me a stupid platitude before ending the call… We may have to find another way to get your… What did you call it? Gil?"

Taiasu nods. "Yep. It's the common currency on Eorzea."

"Common, huh?" She shakes her head in disbelief. "Unbelievable… They mint with solid gold coins for a common currency."

"So what happens now?"

"What happens now is we find a place for all of those empty crystals you've been carrying around," she says as she leads him through her living area, past the fine table and chairs, to and through the hallway, and into her room toward a rather plain looking wooden chest resting in the corner beside her dresser.

"There?" Taiasu looks it over. "I don't think they'll fit…?"

Before he can finish, she flips the latch, and the trunk groans softly as she lifts the lid.

"They'll fit. Trust me," she says. "How many do you have now?"

"Hng… damn it…" Taiasu groans and frowns. "You're asking me to do more math… I hate math." His head tilts forward as he burns a hole in the floor with his piercing stare before his eyes close. A few seconds pass and his brow furrows tightly between his eyes. He counts on his fingers and she can see his eyes moving quickly beneath his shut eyelids.

"Gh… There were two then… then a hundred… and a hundred and twenty-five, so that's… two twenty-seven…" he mumbles, holding up his other hand. "Then there were a hundred and fifty this morning… so three hundred seventy-seven… Six for each is…"

"Eighteen hundred?" Tohsaka says as he rubs the sides of his progressively reddening head aggressively.

"Sure, fine. Close enough," he mutters, letting his hands drop and opening his eyes. "You think this thing can hold that many?"

"Well, your pack can, right?" she says. "I think they're similar. Just start putting them in. You'll see."

He sighs and opens his pack and begins dropping them in a few at a time. After the first dozen, his eyes widen as he tries to process what he's seeing.

"What…?" Each time it looks like there couldn't be room for another crystal, somehow there still is. A hundred, two hundred, even five hundred, and somehow there's still room for more.

Tohsaka grins. "See? It's a special trunk. The space expands to fit whatever's inside," she says.

"Wow…" he says, dropping another few crystals in and then tumbling backward as a hand shoots up from the growing pile inside the chest, catching one before it lands. "Wh-what!?"

Tohsaka takes a few quick steps back as well, and Taiasu steps between her and the chest as the crystals tumble and clatter, yet remain within the confines of the chest as they spread around the figure to whom the hand belongs as he steps upright. An older gentleman, by his shaggy gray hair and beard, in a black suit coat and pants, a white, buttoned down dress shirt, a cape flowing from his shoulders and stopping at his waist. He wears simple white gloves, and in the hand not gripping the crystal, he holds a simple, straight wooden cane.

Taiasu's hand grips the hilt of his blade, which for the moment remains in its sheath as he glares at the man who shakes his cape loose as he steps out from the chest.

"No need for that, young man," he says with a smile. "I've come as a personal favor to the Director."

His hand doesn't leave his weapon, and his teeth show a bit as his eyes narrow. "I don't know what any of that—"

"Director? Of Clock Tower?" Tohsaka says, eyes widening with each word.

The man nods. "Though calling this a personal favor would suggest I'm somehow in his debt now. No, I think this makes us closer to even."

"Tohsaka, who is this guy?" Taiasu asks in a low voice.

The man's brow arches. "Tohsaka…? So you're Nagato's heir?"

"You know him?" she asks, and he laughs loudly.

"Know him? I suppose you could say that," he says. "I tolerated his company after he covered my hotel bill a while back." He turns and examines the chest. "And this would be of my design…" he mutters, shifting the crystals around. His eyes fall on what looks like a prop for a kid's television show. A red stick with a star on one end, flanked on each side by small wings composed of something like four feathers each.

"This is here too," he mutters. "Hmm…"

"This is your… your design?" Tohsaka whispers. "But that would make you—"

"Kischur Zelretch," he says, closing the trunk. "And you are Nagato Tohsaka's heir."

He brings himself to eye level with Taiasu, whose hand is still on his sword's hilt.

"And this young man would be the Warrior of Light."


	31. Sixth Sorcery

Taiasu stares up at the old man who has just correctly identified him by title. The man whom Tohsaka seems to recognize and acknowledge, who had just stepped out of her strange chest which possesses an amount of space within it not unlike his own personal pack, capable of holding whatever is placed inside it. The old man who is currently staring him directly in his face as his jaw hangs slack and his grip on the hilt of his sword relaxes just slightly.

"You are he, correct?" he asks. "The Warrior of Light?"

Taiasu nods slowly as the slack in his jaw lessens. "You… know me?"

The man laughs again. "Knowing a person and knowing of a person are two different things. I would fall into the second category, which is to say that I know _of_ you, yes."

"H-how…?" Taiasu's hand falls away from his weapon. "I'm not—"

"From this world, yes? I know that as well. Though finding you at the Director's request could have taken some doing." He stands up and stretches, groaning softly as he does. "Fortunately, when I started looking you were in close enough proximity to this…" he says, turning and tapping the chest with his cane. "After that, getting here was a simple enough matter."

"Why did the Director send you…?" Tohsaka says, sitting down at the foot of her bed. "I was just asking about a currency exchange. Isn't this way below his pay-grade?"

Zelretch shakes his head. "Currency exchanges, yes. But this…" He glances down at Taiasu again. "No, this is right about where he's at."

"Stop," Taiasu says. "You're going too far ahead." He stares up at the man. "How do you know me?"

"Fair question," the man says, and his smile fades as his expression becomes more serious. "The young girl there could tell you, but since I'm here, I believe I can—"

Zelretch's sentence is truncated as his stomach growls voraciously, causing him to progress through several shades of red in quick succession.

"… It seems I've neglected my baser needs," he says, his gaze dropping to the floor. "I must apologize, but would it be possible for me to impose?"

Tohsaka stares at the man and nods dumbly.

_This is the master of the Second Sorcery… asking me to make him breakfast?_

* * *

"… So please keep him company while I get something ready." Tohsaka says to Archer as he breathes a heavy sigh from within the confines of his summoning circle, having listened to her spend the past several minutes explaining the sudden shift in events.

"I'm not comfortable with this, Rin," he says as he crosses his arms. "But if it will make things less difficult for you, then I suppose I can."

"It would, thanks."

"Rin, are you alright?" he asks. "You seem quite shaken."

"Of course, I'm shaken!" she says, her voice bouncing around her cluttered basement. "This is a serious deal! I wasn't expecting anything after those guys at the Clock Tower after they ran me around in circles, and then one of the few people in the entire world capable of performing actual Sorcery just pops up out of _HIS CHEST_ in _MY ROOM!_ And all because of that small guy up there!"

"He seems to be more trouble than he's worth, don't you think?" Archer says, peeking up at her.

She shakes her head. "Taiasu is fine… but if Zelretch is here, there's a lot going on, and I want to know what it is. So please keep him entertained while I make something for us to eat. And hopefully I can get some answers from him."

Archer nods. "I already said that I would."

"Thanks… How's your injury?" she asks.

He frowns. "Not great. The outside is mostly healed, but Lancer's weapon seems to carry some sort of curse which makes it difficult to recover. I do not know how long it will take for me to recover completely."

Tohsaka sighs heavily. "I was afraid of that… I should have told you before, but we've formed a temporary alliance with Shirou and Saber. Oh, and Taiasu. We had to fight against Berserker and then this weird guy showed up… He seemed to know our small friend upstairs, and our friend seemed to know him as well. And now Zelretch is here, so things seem to have become exponentially more complicated."

"If that is your decision, then I will support it. But you were saying something about someone Taiasu knows?"

She nods. "Yes, but they don't seem to be on… friendly terms. It's why I asked for his help, but I don't really think it was even necessary," she says with a smile. "He was all too eager."

The man in red smiles. "Yes, well, from listening to him go on and on, that sounds about right. For now, let us go greet our other guest, yes?"

Tohsaka nods again, and the both of them head up from her cluttered basement.

* * *

"So you can go in as many times as you like? And it's the same each time?" Zelretch stares at the small man as he asks his question, leaning his back into the high part of Tohsaka's couch in her living space.

Taiasu nods and leans back into the high-backed chain he sat in just yesterday. "Yeah. They're really weird like that," he says. "There're a lot of things in my world that people just seem to accept. Time locked spaces are one of them."

"Hmm… And you adventuresome folk just go in? Over and over?"

Taiasu nods.

"For what purpose?" Zelretch asks.

"Treasure hunting, mostly? Also, for training. It's the best way to get a soul crystal to open up."

"Absolutely fascinating…" the man says, his red eyes shining.

Taiasu smiles, but then he shakes his head and frowns. "Hey, you still didn't answer my question," he says. "How do you know about me?"

"Right, right! My apologies. I'd been observing your world for so long, finally having a chance to speak with one of its inhabitants has proved a most delightful diversion," he says, smiling broadly.

"You've been watching my world?"

He nods. "With much interest, yes. I should explain a bit before. You see, I'm quite well known in this and many other worlds for having mastered what they call the Second Sorcery."

Taiasu frowns. "I don't know much about magic, so you'll have to talk to me like I'm an idiot if you want me to get it."

Zelretch laughs loudly as Tohsaka and Archer enter the living space. Tohsaka's glances at the man laughing and then quickly looks at the floor. Archer sits where Tohsaka sat staring at Taiasu the other day, and rests his arms on the arms of the chair, glancing back and forth between the two.

"I'll get started on breakfast," she says, making her way toward the kitchen.

"Ah! Hang on!" Taiasu hops down from his chair and goes after her. "I want to help!"

Tohsaka turns and stares down at him. "Help… make breakfast?"

He nods enthusiastically.

"Young man, weren't you just asking me a question?" Zelretch says.

Taiasu frowns. "Hm… Tell me later, please? You can tell me while we're eating, right?" He doesn't wait for an answer and waltzes into Tohsaka's kitchen without another word.

"Strange fellow…" Zelretch says, glancing at Archer now. "You're her Servant, I take it?"

He nods. "She asked me to make sure you don't get lonely."

"How considerate."

"Why are you here, old man?" Archer asks with a scowl.

"That young man in there would be the primary reason," he says. "I imagine you're familiar with my fame, yes?"

Archer scoffs. "Something about observing parallel realities, right?"

"In a nutshell, yes." Zelretch leans forward. "But that man in there is from an entirely different universe. Until this time, I've only been able to observe and move between worlds that parallel this one. That changed a relatively short time ago, when I became aware of the universe from which he hails." He stares at Archer directly. "But to actually enter this world, this universe, from another goes beyond the Second Sorcery. And that has captured my interest."

He leans back into his seat again. "And even more so since he's not the first. No… He would be the third."

Archer's brow raises upward. "Third?"

Zelretch nods. "It was some time ago. Someone from his world came to this one. It was how I realized the existence of his world, and how I came to take an interest in it."

"Riveting," Archer says with his practiced condescending tone.

"I would not expect a mere Servant to understand the magnitude of what this implies," he says, frowning. "Parallel universes exist on a single plane, so moving between them, when one knows how, is a trivial thing compared to moving between _perpendicular realities_."

Archer sits upright at this, and his eyes widen subtly, but he remains silent.

"So that caught your attention, did it?" Zelretch smirks. "This could be the key to unlocking the next Sorcery. The Sixth, and what lies beyond it, do you understand?"

"Do I look like Caster to you, old man?" Archer says.

He sighs. "No, I suppose not. And unfortunately, I lack the linguistic prowess necessary to explain it effectively. So to dumb it down, it is, in fact, an enormous deal."

The bowman smirks. "I guess I'll take your word for it."

* * *

Tohsaka stares down at the bowl into which she's successfully introduced the egg shell she had just split open, frowning, pale, and trying to steady her trembling hand.

_Why would he be here? How would he know about Taiasu? I mean, besides what I said on the phone, but this makes —_

"Tohsaka? Are you ok?" Taiasu asks, tugging softly at the hem of her skirt.

"Huh?" She glances down and sees him frowning softly, staring up at her. "Um…"

"Is it about that guy?" he asks, and she sighs.

"He's not a bad person, if you're worried about that," she says, forcing a smile. "He's just ancient, and powerful, and him being here is unsettling." She scoops the shell from the bowl with a fork and tosses it into the sink.

"Can I help?" Taiasu asks.

"Not with this, no. We'll just have to hear him out—"

"I meant with breakfast," he says, smiling.

She sighs. "Of course you did… You know how to cook?" she asks.

He nods. "I get by."

She fishes out a cutting board and a paring knife, and grabs some fresh mushroom, onion and green pepper. "Then go ahead and cut these up."

"Omelettes?" Taiasu asks, head tilting to one side as she sets them on the counter.

She nods.

"Alright, I know just about the right size," he says. "Um… Is it alright for me to be up there?"

She glances down at him and sighs again. "Well, I can't have you cutting them down on the floor…"

"Hm… Do you have another one of those?" he asks, pointing to the small knife on the tray.

"Another paring knife? I should… Why?"

He grins for a moment before a flash of blue light hides his form. When it fades, he stands in his ninja attire. "Because my kodachi are dirty."

"What are you thinking," she asks in a flat tone.

"Nothing bad, I promise," he says. "Do you have another?" he asks, pointing at the paring knife again.

"I think so," she says. She digs around and fishes out a second, setting it on the tray. "But that still doesn't help—"

"Sorry, but can you bring them down here for a second?" he asks. "It won't take long, I promise."

Her head leans to one side briefly, but she shrugs and grabs the tray with the two paring knives, bringing it down to his level.

"Thanks," he says, grabbing both knives. He holds them over his shoulders in dramatic fashion, and with two swift, parallel movements, the blades of both knives pass through the items on the cutting board.

Tohsaka flinches and her eyes shut reflexively for a moment as she pulls back slightly. Slowly, her eyes open and she glances down at the tray and frowns.

"Neat trick," she mutters, staring at the onion, mushrooms and bell peppers which appear untouched.

"I thought so," he says, grinning as he taps the bottom of the tray, and all three fall to pieces.

Tohsaka's mouth hangs slightly as her eyes widen before she shakes her head and sighs.

"That's more than a little cliché, don't you think?" she asks as she stands up, placing the tray with the finely cut vegetables on the counter.

"Maybe, but it was still fun," he says, hopping upward and dropping the two knives into the sink.

Tohsaka watches him bounce and her brow arches. "You can jump pretty high…"

“Higher than my height, yeah,” he says with a casual shrug. He glances up at her and notes her color having returned to normal, and her hands being more steady and his mask conceals the soft smile forming across his face. His form flashes with that familiar blue light and as it fades, he’s returned to his red leathers, and both his katana and twin kodachi are nowhere to be seen.

* * *

Taiasu and Tohsaka both carry out two plates, each with a steaming omelette, a couple of slices of buttered toast, a few strips of bacon, and a knife and fork. Tohsaka places one on the table before Zelretch and the other before Archer, and Taiasu places one in front of his seat, and one in front of Tohsaka as she sits down.

"I apologize again for my unannounced intrusion," Zelretch says before cutting into his breakfast. "And then to impose like this."

She waves him off. "It's fine. After that phone call, I wasn't expecting anything. I was just surprised, is all." She cuts into her omelette "Though you are right, in that a bit of a heads up would have been nice."

"And for that, I again apologize," he says, dabbing his mouth with a handkerchief he pulls from his suit coat. "Masterfully prepared, I must say."

"Sorry about before…" Taiasu says, cutting into his own food. "About asking that question and then running off. That was rude…"

Archer snickers, and Zelretch glances down at him.

"Indeed. Yet that you have the awareness of it places you above many of your peers, I am certain."

"So can you explain it?" Taiasu asks, after swallowing his bite. "I mean, so I can get it? I felt myself falling asleep as soon as you said 'Sorcery'."

Tohsaka's face shifts to a hard smirk, but she silently chews through her bite of toast.

"I promise nothing, but I will endeavor… I'm sorry, I only know you by title." Zelretch says, dabbing his mouth again. "Would you do me the pleasure of enlightening me?"

"Huh?" Taiasu's head leans to one side.

"He's asking your name, stupid." Archer says with a smirk after he brings down the bacon he was eating.

"Hey, I'm not… oh, forget it…" Taiasu turns to the new face and bows in his seat. "Taiasu. Taiasu Taruko, pleased to meet you."

"Likewise. Now we were discussing how I know of you, yes?"

Mouth full of food, he only nods in reply.

"Right. So the Second Sorcery allows those who can make use of it to observe, and move through, parallel worlds." Zelretch says.

Taiasu swallows his bite and his face goes blank. "Sorry. You already lost me."

The man sighs and frowns. "At where, precisely?"

"Parallel worlds."

"He's talking about the Many Worlds theory, Taiasu." Tohsaka says, after bringing down another bite of her omelette.

"My dear girl, if he doesn't understand what parallel worlds are, what makes you believe he would understand that which is just another name for it?"

Tohsaka frowns and goes a shade of red but remains silent, choosing instead to take in some bacon.

"Very well… Let's use a simple illustration," Zelretch says. "You've just expressed your lack of understanding of the subject of our conversation, yes?"

Taiasu nods.

"Very good. Now that statement has influenced our conversation, so that I am now endeavoring to explain it to you so you can understand. Are we on the same page so far?"

He nods again, and Zelretch holds up a single finger on his left hand.

"For the sake of this, what we have here is where we are now, because of what you just said and did." He points to the extended finger. "Now, suppose you had chosen to remain silent. Where would we be?"

"Um… Sorry, I've never been accused of being the smartest person in the room, but is this some sort of trick question?" Taiasu asks. "We'd be having a different conversation, right?"

"No trick question, young man, and you are exactly correct," Zelretch says, extending another finger. "If you'd remained silent, then we would be here. Perhaps this conversation we are now having would eventually lead to the other conversation, or perhaps not, and there would generally be no way of knowing."

"Okay…" Taiasu rubs the back of his head. "I think… I get it? You're saying that there's no way to know what sort of conversation we'd be having if I'd just sat here and stayed stupid, right?"

Archer laughs, dropping his fork on his plate, and Tohsaka glares at him. Zelretch laughs too, but in a much less condescending manner.

"Yes, that is a reasonable way of putting it. Now please try to follow closely what I am about to say," Zelretch says, placing his fork and knife down, and holding up two fingers. "Both are happening right now," he says, indicating both of his fingers. "In parallel."

Taiasu's face could serve as a paper for taking notes, for how blank it goes at the man's statement. "Sorry. What?"

"Yes, I imagine that requires further explaining," he says, bringing his fingers down. "You are familiar with the concept of time?"

Taiasu groans, palming his face, but nods. "Yes. Unless you're going to tell me it's something else, I'm vaguely aware of what time is."

"Just making sure," he says. "Time flows forward in a single direction, and we exist in that stream of time. But each decision we make causes the flow of time to split, carrying us along with it. Now, just because we are carried along in a different direction does not negate the existence of that other stream, understand?"

"I think… so?" Taiasu nods slowly, leaning forward. "But we can't exist in both streams, right?"

Zelretch shakes his head. "Just as the decisions we make do not negate the existence of the flow of time where we made a different decision, so to do those decisions not negate the existence of we who made a different decision."

"Okay… I think I understand. I mean, the concept, at least, if not exactly how it works…"

The man smiles softly. "It's fine, as long as you have an idea."

Tohsaka smiles as well, and Archer shakes his head, smirking.

_Yeah, he doesn't have a clue…_

"Now, in most cases, it's not possible for we who exist in one stream to observe what is happening in another stream," Zelretch says. "However, I was able to devise a way to reliably do so."

Taiasu nods again. "Okay… so that's what you were saying before. About observing parallel worlds…?"

He nods. "Just so. But observing a world that sits parallel to this one is one thing. In the simplest of terms, it would be like looking outside of a window."

Tohsaka cuts another piece from her omelette and chews it slowly and carefully as she listens quietly to the conversation.

"Right… but what does that have to do with you knowing of me?"

"Yes, what indeed?" Tohsaka asks after finishing her current bite.

"Well, as I was explaining to your Servant a bit ago, observing parallel worlds is, for those who know how, as simple as looking through a window. Each of these parallel worlds exists next to one another. Even passing through from one to the next would be as simple as passing through a doorway," Zelretch says, gesturing to the doorway leading to her kitchen. "So you could say they exist on a plane, like these plates existing on this table."

Tohsaka and Taiasu nod, and Archer yawns.

"Each plate is similar, but also different in the amount of food on them, etcetera, etcetera, and moving a fork from one to the next is as simple as this…" He lifts the fork from his own plate and makes to set it down on Taiasu's but stops just before, returning it to his own. "But if one wanted to, say, move through the table to visit the floor, that would be quite a bit more complicated than hopping from one plate to the next, understand?"

"This is making my head hurt…" Taiasu says, frowning. "But… I think I get it. So you're saying that we're on this table right now, and that my world exists on the floor?"

Zelretch grins and nods. "You know, I think you only act dumb."

Archer laughs. "Yeah, you might think that if you hadn't seen him jump off a forty story skyscraper."

The man's eyes widen. "I'm sorry? I feel like I've missed something?"

"Nevermind him, please go on," Tohsaka says, glaring at Archer, who only shrugs.

"Right. Anyway, you're correct. And normally, yes. It would be impossible for me, or anyone, to see the floor through the table, let alone move to the floor through the table." Zelretch folds his hands in front of him and sighs heavily. "And yet, someone from your world was able to do just that."

"Wait… someone from Hydaelyn was able to come here? No, I mean yeah. I did… I don't exactly—"

He shakes his head. "No. You're coming here was a mere byproduct of the initial instance. You are the third person from your world to visit ours."

"Wait… third? That's…" Taiasu stares at the floor. "No, that can't be… It was just me and Sobervre… There shouldn't be any others."

Zelretch shakes his head again. "No, you're just the most recent visitors. The first was some sixty years ago, right about the time this country was being forced into submission during the second world war."

"Sorry, what now?" Tohsaka says, standing up from her seat with a hard frown. "Someone came here… from Taiasu's world… when we were being bombed into oblivion?"

He nods solemnly. "If you think about it, it does make sense. This country has quite a few ley lines, and those weapons of terrible power interacting with them in such a violent manner could provide just the catalyst one needs to breach the boundaries of perpendicular realities," he says, frowning sadly. "It's only a theory, but I believe that at that moment, someone from your world, Taiasu's world, focused an incredible amount of power and somehow aimed it at the fabric which separates our distinctly different universes. The pressure from both sides caused that fabric to rupture and allowed them to pass through."

"The seventh calamity…" Taiasu whispers.

"I'm sorry?" Zelretch says.

"What you said. Terrible weapons of terrible power," he says, his voice trembling. "It reminded me of what we call the seventh umbral calamity."

"That thing with the dragon you were talking about?" Tohsaka says, sitting back down. "Bahamut, I think you called it?"

He nods, going pale. "I didn't… Like I said, I hadn't started adventuring yet, and I don't know much, but it was devastating on a scale not known to that point. It may have been when Dalamud fell… Or when Bahamaut unleashed his fury, or when Alisaie and Alphinaud's grandfather tried to seal him… But to think it went beyond our world… even our universe…"

Taiasu shudders violently.

"How long ago was this?" Tohsaka asks, but Zelretch holds his hand up.

“Time flows differently in his world. I have seen it. About twelve years pass for us for every one year in his world. It’s not proof. But it feels too likely to be a coincidence.”

Taiasu's stomach lurches, forcing him up from his chair, and he sprints to the bathroom, holding his hand over his mouth. Tohsaka runs after him to find him hanging over the rim of her toilet, coughing and gagging. She runs some water into a glass next to the sink and waits for him to stand upright before handing it to him while rubbing his back.

"Th… thanks…" he says, wiping his face. He rinses his mouth and spits into the toilet before flushing it. "I didn't realize… I never expected to learn… we screwed up two worlds that day…"


	32. All that Glitters

Tohsaka walks back with Taiasu from the bathroom. His steps are unsteady and his face remains as pale as the plates from which they had been eating. As he returns to his seat and stares down at it, he finds himself no longer interested in food.

"Sorry…" he mutters. "I wasted a perfectly good breakfast…"

Tohsaka just shakes her head. "It's fine… I can't even imagine…"

"I must apologize as well. I was not aware such a thing had occurred in your world," Zelretch says.

Mercifully, Archer remains silent.

"Are you alright?" Tohsaka asks, and he shakes his head.

"Not even a little…" he says, frowning. "It's not every day you learn your world ripped open a hole to an entirely different universe…" He looks back up at Zelretch again and grits his teeth. "But it still doesn't explain. I get the feeling you're not finished, right?"

The man nods. "Not quite, but we're getting there."

"Then please go on," Taiasu says. "Basically, we just learned that while Tohsaka's country was being ravaged by weapons of war…" He stands up and pokes the table with one finger. "Say, here… My world was being ravaged similarly… I can't reach, but let's just say it's on the opposite side of where my finger is."

Zelretch nods. "Yes, and I believe that with a little encouragement from someone on your side, or our side, or both, this broke the boundary separating our worlds, which is how someone was able to come to our world from yours. When I learned of this, I traced their path, and that is when I discovered your world, and began making my observations. And that is how I became aware of you, your world, and your struggle to preserve it."

Taiasu withdraws his finger and returns to his seat, hanging his head. "I think I get it…" he says, heaving another sigh.

"So what happens now?" Tohsaka asks.

"I've made first contact," Zelretch says, smiling softly. "This was my primary goal in coming here. To determine if what was being said was true, and I can say without doubt I wholeheartedly believe it to be the case."

"Well yay for you," Taiasu says glumly. "But what about these?" he asks, pulling out a few coins from his pack. Zelretch's eyes widen.

"Fascinating…" he mutters as the few coins clatter on the table. "May I?" he asks, reaching across.

"Huh? I mean, I don't care—hey, what!?" Taiasu yelps as the man seizes his pack and opens it, peering deep inside.

"How absolutely incredible. Not quite my chest, but… to make it so portable… Automated inventory tracking… Distinct, compartmentalized spaces… I dare say they imbued it with a level of intelligence." He pulls his head out and hands it back to Taiasu, who reaches out and takes it. "Thank you, young man. That will be the highlight of my week. I didn't imagine they would expand upon my design to make it so practical!" His face beams as he sits back down.

"Wait… this is your design?" Taiasu asks, and he nods.

"Indeed. On one occasion I had the pleasure of actually being able to communicate with a person in your world. Master Matoya, I believe she called herself. During that time, I passed the idea along to her. It seems she ran with it."

Taiasu's eyes widen and his jaw slacks. "Y-you met Matoya?"

He nods again. "Yes. Something of a cantankerous old crone, but I felt in her a sort of kinship. Tell me; is she well?"

Taiasu laughs at his description of her.

_Spot on…_

"She's well. She's still putting Y'shtola through her paces… Do you know Y'shtola?"

"The feline lass?" Zelretch asks. "I've not had the pleasure of correspondence, but, Matoya speaks fondly of her."

"Sorry, 'feline lass'?" Tohsaka's smirks, her head leaning slightly.

"Oh, yes." Zelretch says, grinning like a dirty old man. "Hydaelyn has quite the menagerie of human and humanoid type persons, and one race in particular would not be out of place among some racier sorts of anime and manga produced in this country. Y'shtola happens to be one of these."

Taiasu goes eight shades of red listening to him talk.

"So, she's a… cat… person?" Tohsaka asks, her mouth turning upward, and Zelretch nods.

"Decidedly so, and precisely as you're imagining, I'd imagine. I've only caught glimpses of her and hers through my observations, but what I've seen causes me to wonder quite a bit about the influence Hydaelyn has had on this country's development since the war."

Tohsaka grins. "I'd never have thought the master of the Second Sorcery… was an otaku…" Finally, she breaks down into a fit of laughter.

"I trust you will keep my confidence in this matter, young lady."

Zelretch reaches across the table and lifts one of the glittering gold coins, examining it carefully. "Yes, it feels about an ounce… and I'd say you were correct. Solid gold throughout. But it doesn't fascinate me as much as this…" He sets the coin down and lifts the crystal he'd grabbed when he first arrived.

"I've seen these," he says. "Though generally they glow in one of six distinct colors."

Taiasu nods. "That one's been drained."

"Drained? How is that?"

He sighs. "You've been observing us, but it looks like there's a great deal you don't know…" he says, rifling through his pack and tossing out six distinct crystal shards.

Zelretch nods. "Yes, those are with what I am more familiar… But this one has been drained, you say?"

Taiasu nods again. "Yeah… Do you know what aether is?" he asks, and Zelretch shakes his head.

"I've heard mutterings of it, but I do not know precisely, no," he says.

"Hm…" Taiasu frowns and rubs his forehead. "I heard Tohsaka talk about magical energy in this world, and I think the two are analogous. The difference, I think, is that while your people can take or leave magical energy, my people will die without aether. That almost happened to me when I came here.

Zelretch lifts one of the shards and inspects it. "Fascinating…"

"I was ripping through my bag. I broke a potion bottle and even tossed my phoenix feather aside before I grabbed one of those. I absorbed it pretty quickly, and it saved my life. Since then, I've had to use them for… well, everything really."

Tohsaka leans forward a smidge.

_Feather…? Was it that one?_

"Really? I believed they existed in a stabilized form… Remarkable." Zelretch turns the green shard in his hand. "And you only have to hold them for this aether to be absorbed into your body?"

Taiasu nods. "All that's left after that is what you see there," he says, pointing at the dull crystal beside him. "I've been holding onto them, mostly because I was trying to minimize my presence when I first arrived." He glances over at Tohsaka and sighs. "Then I met Tohsaka, and that stopped being a thing. She even discovered those drained crystals can serve a purpose. She says they're like amplifiers…"

"And she has… tested… her hypothesis?" Zelretch says, looking from the shard to her.

"Not in the most controlled conditions…" she mutters. "Three times yesterday. Once was an actual test, and two were… sort of emergency situations."

"What about your backyard?" Taiasu asks.

"Oh, right… I tested with an undrained shard as well," she says, picking up the red one from the table.

"And what manner of testing did you perform?" Zelretch asks.

"In the first case, I just added a bit of my own magical energy to the shard. It didn't take much for it to explode…"

"And you were unscathed?"

She sighs. "I had to focus some of my magical energy into a sort of… deflective barrier. The blast wave went away from me. So yeah," she says, staring at the red shard in her hand. "Mostly unscathed."

"Each time?" Zelretch asks, locking her in his stare.

"Yeah… no, wait," she says. "Three times. With the first, and the second… and the fourth. The third, I used with an incantation."

"With an incantation? Truly?"

She nods. "Yeah… a single-line incantation."

The man stares back down at the yellow stone. "Truly remarkable… Though I am confounded. As I said, from what I've seen of these, they exist in a state of complete stability. That energy should be able to move out of, and into them with such ease…"

"You're not wrong…" Taiasu says. "We only use them for creating artisanal goods. Beast tribes will occasionally use them to summon a primal, and Garlemald uses them to create ceruleum to power their magitek weapons… Before I came here, that was it."

"Hmm…" The man sets the shard down and folds his hands in front of his face. "So nothing like this before…?"

Taiasu nods. "I can't even hold one of those or it will start draining. I can hold crystals for maybe a second, and clusters for a few seconds…"

"So something in this world is affecting them, it seems… Or perhaps the very process by which you came to be here. Either way, it seems to be a good thing for you." Zelretch lets his hands rest for a moment. "I have some things I would like to discuss with those at the Clock Tower. I feel it only prudent to apprise them of the situation."

"Hold on, you're going to tell them about Taiasu?" Tohsaka asks.

"The Director is already aware, through your efforts, Miss Tohsaka," he says, smirking. "Whether or not that was your intent, he, at the very least, knows about the presence of a being from another universe within our world And in the territory for which your family is responsible, no less." He chuckles. "Seems you have your work cut out for you."

"Guh…" Tohsaka balks, holding her face in her hands as she sinks into her chair.

Taiasu frowns sadly. "Sorry…"

She brings her hands down and offers a small smile. "It's fine… Or at least it will be eventually…"

He turns his attention back to the man. "So that's it? You're just going to leave?" Taiasu says, staring at him. "What about everything happening here, now?"

"We will be monitoring the situation," he says coolly. "We are aware of the presence of the other. Sobervre, I believe you called him. The situation is not beneath our notice, but it is not for us to interfere at this time. Were we to do so, it would tip the scales of the Holy Grail War, and that is not something we are willing to risk. For that, you have my apologies."

He glances back down at the glowing shards on the table. "I do have a proposal."

Tohsaka's hands drop to her lap and she sits up. "Okay…?"

"These shards fascinate me. I would like to acquire a quantity of them," he says, picking up the spent crystal again. "For due compensation, of course."

"How much?" Tohsaka asks.

The man shakes his head, turning to Taiasu. "They are his, yes?"

"Gh… yes…" she mutters, folding her hands in her lap and frowning, but Taiasu shakes his head.

"Not really, no. I agreed to give them to her since she said she wasn't going to blow up the world with them."

Archer and Zelretch both laugh loudly, and Tohsaka grinds her teeth, turning more than a few shades of red.

"Very well, then. If you intend to honor that agreement, I will conduct this transaction with her. But they are in your possession, yes?"

He nods. "Except for the ones I dropped into that box you popped out of, Jack."

Zelretch chuckles. "Yes, very clever. In order for me to ascertain their value, I'll need to perform a few tests. Would it be alright for me to make use of your yard, Miss Tohsaka?"

She sighs and nods, and he stands from the couch. "Very good. Then let us go see what we can, yes?"

Taiasu collects the coins and sweeps the shards into his pack. "I can tell you a bit about those," he says. "That one in your hand is a mid-grade crystal. It can hold about 25 times what the smallest ones can, and the third tier can hold twice what those can."

"Hmm…" Zelretch stares at the crystal. "And you're certain? I think I'd rather confirm with my own analysis, if it's the same to you?"

Taiasu shrugs and everyone makes their way outside to the yard once again.

* * *

"Um… Is it a good idea to be doing this in the daytime?" Taiasu asks while he digs through his pack.

"It will be fine," Zelretch says. "Two of each, please?"

"Two?"

He nods. "I will be first discerning if they do indeed act as amplifiers, and if so, how much output is gained from each unit of input. Then, I wish to determine how much each can hold, so two of each."

"So can you determine how much is in each one after you charge it some?" Taiasu asks, digging through his pack.

Zelretch nods.

"Then why not just use one of each?"

"Hm? Why would I do that?"

"Well… if you can tell how much is in each one, you can just charge each the same amount, right?" Taiasu says, handing him an empty shard. "And then once you know how much you get, you can just finish charging each one, can't you?"

Zelretch's face drops as it turns red, and he gives a thoroughly unconvincing cough.

"Yeah, he does that sometimes…" Tohsaka says with a restrained laugh.

"Ah… yes… Very good… One each, please."

Taiasu shrugs and passes him an empty cluster. "You still have that crystal, right?"

He nods. "Miss Tohsaka, he said you simply allowed your magical energy to flow into the crystal, yes?"

"That's it, yeah. They act like a sponge."

"Very well then… Let's see how this works."

Zelretch holds out the empty shard and the hand holding it flashes for the briefest possible increment of time. The light fades, and it's impossible to tell the crystal has changed at all from how it looks. He turns from the group as he holds it up to inspect it.

"Hm… They do seem to act as amplifiers… Incredible. This, I'd say is ten to one…"

"How can you tell?" Taiasu asks, his eyes fixated on the scene.

"The mass. Even magical energy has to observe these fundamental laws," he says. "Start with the base mass of the crystal and then the new mass after it has been charged. The new mass should be equal to the old mass, plus the amount of energy over the square of the speed of light in a vacuum. However, the new mass of this crystal is actually closer to the old mass plus about ten times the amount of energy I…?"

He turns and glances from the crystal down to Taiasu, whose eyes are fully glazed over, then up at Tohsaka, who nods slowly as she tries to follow before he heaves a heavy sigh.

"E equals Em See Squared?"

Taiasu's gaze remains blank, but Tohsaka's eyes light up.

"Oh! I know that. The force of the energy released when splitting an atom, right?"

Zelretch nods. "The formula works in reverse to determine the quantity of mass that is contained in a given amount of energy. For the sake of simplicity, I added 'one' to this crystal, but the mass suggests it is instead holding 'ten'."

"You can tell that much just by holding it?" Archer asks, his brow raised halfway.

"Don't be ridiculous," he says, holding out a small gram scale. "I needed this to determine the precise mass of those coins in case I decided to bring them back with me. This is remotely linked to the most precise instruments we have back at headquarters. I tared the scale to the empty crystal and then let it do the work for me, and the value I got back was ten."

"Ah… So you cheated trying to make yourself look good," Archer says with a hard smirk.

Zelretch laughs. "No, you made a presumption based on what you thought to be the case. You know me by reputation, so you assumed I could do something like that, yes?"

Archer frowns, but remains quiet while Tohsaka giggles softly. Taiasu's blank stare gradually fades as he comes back from his happy place.

"So? How can you tell?" he asks again.

The man palms his face and sighs again. "With this," he says, showing the small scale to the small man. "It can tell for me."

"Oh, cool. I think they have stuff like that back at the Ironworks," he says, staring at it for a moment. "So you said it got ten for the one you put into it?"

Zelretch nods. "So let's see how this one does." He tares the scale back to zero with the crystal and then holds it in his hand. Another flash, faster than that of a camera, and he places the crystal on the scale. He waits for the numbers and his eyes widen.

"T… two hundred and fifty…?" His brow sweat and he wipes it with his handkerchief. "Absurd…"

"So that's twenty-five times more, right?" Taiasu says.

Zelretch nods as he tares the scale back to zero with the cluster and repeats the process. A hard lump forms in his throat and he swallows against it.

"Five… hundred…" He returns the scale to his coat's inner pocket and stares at the cluster, still in his hand. "Inconceivable…"

"Are you still going to see how much they can hold?" Taiasu asks.

Zelretch dabs his forehead again and stares hard at the ground. "I believe I still intend to do so, yes… but it seems you are correct, at least in that the amplification potency of each crystal scales significantly from one tier to the next."

He places the crystal and the cluster into his coat, somehow, and stares at the shard, which is still as dim as it was before he'd done anything with it. "So at a rate of ten to one… This may take some time…"

* * *

It does not.

About two minutes, and ninety-nine flashes of bright light later, and the crystal shard glows brilliantly in his hand, rapidly pulsing between the four colors of red, blue, green and yellow, so quickly that it actually appears white most of the time.

"That's one hundred… so it would be one thousand…" He dabs his brow again. "These things are terrifying… You said you were able to direct the release by shaping a shield?" Zelretch asks, looking back at Tohsaka, who stands a good distance away, nodding.

"Hm… If they can hold at least one hundred at a conversion ratio of ten to one… That would make them…" Zelretch sighs heavily. "I'm hesitant to charge this again… For now, we'll go with the assumption that you are correct, and that the next tier can hold one hundred at a conversion of two hundred fifty to one… and the final tier can hold the same at five hundred to one… so one thousand, twenty-five thousand, and fifty thousand respectively…"

Tohsaka goes pale as he recites the numbers. "Then Berserker shrugged off a hit like that…?"

Taiasu glances up at her and sees her hands trembling. "Tohsaka?"

She shakes her head slowly. "We can't… we can't win against that. Nobody could win against that…"

"Tohsaka, didn't he get some sort of super-charge before you hit him with that?" he asks.

She glances down at him and his serious expression and takes in a deep breath. "Yeah… you're right. I forgot about that…"

He just smiles and glances back at Zelretch, who stands there, eyes closed, muttering to himself.

"Alright, so I think I have an idea of what fair market value would be. Since these work like they do, being able to hold one hundred each, buying them empty would be fine since it should only take between four and five days to fill a single one for an average magus. A standard emission from a magus… the Association will pay… and each has… so…"

He writes a few numbers on a piece of paper and hands it to Tohsaka.

She glances down at the paper and her eyes bulge. "That… much?"

"Each," he says. "How many do you have?"

"H… how many do you want?" she asks

"Hm…" Zelretch looks at the ground for a moment. "We'll start with a smaller quantity. Say, ten of each… Depending on what uses we can find for them, we can renegotiate terms of supply."

She looks back at the paper in her hand and shuts her eyes for a moment.

_Ten each… so ten of that… and ten of those… and ten more… that's…_

Her eyes open and she nods. "There's one thing I didn't say," she says, folding the paper and slipping it into her school vest. "The shard I used with the invocation disintegrated."

"It did? Hmm…" Zelretch stares at the ground again. "Perhaps… the process by which amplification occurs consumes something from the crystal itself…?" Then he laughs. "Thank god. Otherwise, it would be an incomprehensible violation of the laws of thermodynamics."

Taiasu smacks the back of his head as he can feel his eyes glaze over again. "So you're going to buy them?"

He nods. "In the quantity stated. We'll run some tests with them back at the Clock Tower to determine how we can use them. I'm curious to see if the magical energy can be routed from one crystal into another… If that proves true, we could be on the edge of discovering a reasonable approximation of free energy." He grins widely. "That would be remarkable, even among the Mage's Association."

"But what about the coins?" Taiasu says. "I still need to replace Emiya's… TV, right? That's what you called it?" He looks over at Tohsaka.

"I'm sorry? TV?" Zelretch glances down at him.

Tohsaka nods. "It's how this entire mess started. We were having a discussion, and Emiya-kun went to show him what the TV was and he… sort of killed it."

"I thought it was something sinister from my world," Taiasu says, scuffing his feet. "Then I went to show him those coins, and Tohsaka called you guys, and now we're here. If she's going to be selling those crystals to you, that's good for her, but I still need to be able—"

"Taiasu, it's fine," she says, smiling down at him. "What he's offering is more than enough."

"But that's yours, right?" he says, looking up at her. "That doesn't help—"

She sighs and shakes her head. "I'm saying I'll share it with you. They were yours from the start. You were giving them to me to make things even, right?"

Taiasu nods, but remains quiet.

"Exactly. So with what he's offering, me just taking them would tip the scales far too much, so I'm fine with sharing with you, okay?"

He frowns softly, staring at the ground and twisting his hands. "I mean… if you're sure. I still don't feel right about it…"

* * *

Zelretch pops open the chest in Tohsaka's room. "I'll see to it that your account with the Clock Tower is credited appropriately. From there, you can move the funds as you see fit," he says, shifting the crystals in the chest around as he steps into it.

"Hold on," Taiasu says, digging around in his pack. "I'll give you these, too. As a gesture of good faith." He tosses a set of clusters, crystals, and five shards into the chest.

Zelretch stares at him vacantly. "You're just… giving these to me?"

He nods. "I have plenty. This way you can test with those. Maybe you'll learn something about aether… I'm actually hoping you can figure out a way to solve my problem as well."

"Your problem?"

"Yeah… I have a lot of those, but…" He stares hard at the floor. "I've been using them more and more… They won't last forever, and if I'm still here when I run out… It would be really bad. So maybe you can use them to help me?"

"I see… Well, we shall see what we can," Zelretch says, collecting the colored crystalline constructs. "If we discover something, we will be in touch. Feel free to leave what husks you have in here and I can come claim them at my leisure. I will, of course, credit the account for each one."

Tohsaka nods as she watches from the foot of her bed.

"Oh, and one other thing," he says, looking back up at Taiasu. "I would refrain from introducing that magnificent pack of yours into the space of this chest. Extra-dimensional spaces tend not to play well with one another."

His face blanks. "Sorry… extra what now?"

Zelretch sighs and palms his face. "Don't put your pack in this chest, or it will probably explode. Also, don't put this chest into your pack, or it will also likely explode."

"Oh," Taiasu says flatly. "Why didn't you just say that?"

"I… did… Oh, for goodness' sake." He sighs again and shakes his head as he looks toward Tohsaka. "My dear girl, you have my deepest sympathies."

She laughs. "He's fine once you get used to him."

"I'll take you at your word, though this has been quite an exciting time for me," he says. "It was a pleasure, Miss Tohsaka. Warrior of Light."

With that, he takes a small bow and pulls the chest closed over him.

"Did… Is he still in there?" Taiasu reaches out to lift the chest cover, but Tohsaka drags him backward.

"He just said not to go in there, didn't he?" she says, sighing. "Or else your pack would explode?"

"Ah… Right…" his stare drops. "But I still need to drop off the rest of those spent crystals and clusters, right?"

"We can worry about that later…" She strokes her chin for a moment. "Why did he call you 'Warrior of Light'?"

He stares hard at the floor before turning and looking her in the eye. "That's… a long story that starts around the same time I got my legs as an adventurer." His eyes close for a moment and she watches them move rapidly beneath his eyelids. "The shortest version is that this is the title bestowed upon Hydaelyn's chosen. A select few who are charged with maintaining peace in the realm and quelling anything that would threaten it." His tone is deep and serious, and contrasts sharply with how he sounds normally.

His eyes slide open, and he locks his stare onto hers as he smiles softly. "It's basically the ultimate extension of what I wanted to be doing, anyway. Going places, helping people. Those sorts of things." He chuckles slightly. "Though I could do without the lofty title, if I were being completely honest."

Her mouth hangs for a second before she brings it closed. "Who decides that?"

"Hm? Who decides what?"

"Who decides you're this Warrior of Light? You said 'Hydaelyn's Chosen', but I thought that was the name of your world, right?"

His mouth hangs for a moment before he answers her. "Yes… But it's also the name of the will of the world," he says softly. "An enormous, living, sentient crystal." He sighs. "Like so many things, it is… vastly complicated, and incredibly difficult to explain. I've seen it only a few times myself, which is more than most could say."

"Huh…" She leans her head slightly. "So the entire planet basically chose you? That's… pretty heavy."

He gives a brief laugh. "Yes. Literally the weight of an entire world."

* * *

"We'll take the chest with us back to Emiya-kun's house," Tohsaka says. "Mind stepping out for a few minutes so I can change?"

"I'd prefer it, to be honest…" Taiasu says, stepping outside and closing the door behind him.

A few minutes pass and the door clicks open. Taiasu turns around and finds Tohsaka with a large satchel slung over her shoulder in an entirely different set of clothing. A casual, long-sleeved red shirt with a collar concealing part of her neck, decorated by a silver cross inked into it at the top and center. The shirt also has two small silver circles adorning it, flanking the top of the cross. She wears a short, black skirt which stops a few centimeters where her long black socks end, about halfway up her thighs.

Taiasu stares slack-jawed for a second before he shakes his head to clear his mind.

_Red really is her color…_

Given the relative shortness of her skirt, and his own height, he forces his gaze to the floor out of propriety.

Her head leans to one side for a moment, after which she shrugs. "Can you grab the chest for me?"

He nods, slips past her, and stands in front of the chest, staring at it for a few seconds.

_It can't be that heavy… but it's bigger than I am._

He sighs and frowns.

_Stupid. Of course it's bigger than I am…_

With little effort, he hefts it over his head. After getting it centered, he walks out of her room.

"Were you able…!" She turns and stops mid-sentence and has to bite back her laughter as what appears to be a chest with legs comes trotting toward her like it was just another day at the office.

"No problem. Hey, where's Archer? I haven't seen him since outside."

"Archer is… he's…" She gives up and lets herself have her laugh for a few seconds.

"What's funny?" Taiasu the chest asks her, leaning slightly in one direction, which only makes her laugh harder.

"Sorry… I just… you looked… with that chest over your head, it looked like…" She fails to complete her thought and tries to compose herself. She glances down and watches one of his bare feet come up and scratch his other short leg.

"Can… you just… you just set it down… in the living room, please? I think… I think I'm going to pass out…!" She chokes her request out between labored breaths and her fit of laughter.

Taiasu the chest shrugs, which causes the chest itself to shift upward perceptibly for a moment, causing Tohsaka to double in laughter again, and he trots past her into the living area, where he places it down on the table.

She finally gets herself under control and wipes away the laugh tracks from her eyes and steps into the living area.

"Sorry… I just didn't expect to see my chest sprout legs and start walking," she says, almost breaking down in another fit of laughter. "It caught me off guard."

He just shrugs again. "So where's Archer?"

"He's in the basement summoning circle, trying to recover still," she says. Her desire to laugh subsides and her smile dips slightly. "It's going to take more time."

"Hmm…" Taiasu stares at the floor. "Maybe I could try this…?" He reaches into his pack and pulls out the Soul of the Dancer crystal. "It worked with Emiya, so it should work with him, right?"

"The Waltz of Healing?" Tohsaka says, her brow arching slightly. "That could… Hey, do you mind if I try it?"

He looks up at her, eyes widening slightly. "I don't… Why though?"

She smiles softly again. "I'm curious… Besides that, I'm also worr—just thinking about your situation, is all. If everything you do takes this aether stuff, then the less you have to do the better, right?"

Taiasu smirks slyly at her verbal back step, but chooses to let it go and nods, tossing her the stone. She catches it and the familiar display comes and goes. She sets the large tote down and he follows her as she makes her way to the basement, carefully focusing his stare at the floor.

* * *

"Waltz of Healing?" Archer says, arms crossed and staring between the two of them. "I feel like I missed a lot last night…"

She nods as she slips the stone into her collar and takes the two chakram from Taiasu's hands. "I'll catch you up on it later, but for now we're going to try this and see if it helps. If it does, you can come with us."

"Hey, Archer… I'm sorry I kept forgetting, but I meant to ask—Are you feeling any different since yesterday?" Taiasu asks. "I mean, after that light hit you?"

"Light?" Archer scratches the side of his head. "You mean just before Lancer stuck me?"

Taiasu nods, and he sighs. "Not… particularly, no. It was all pretty quick. Something searing struck me in the back, and then the next thing I knew, Rin was forcing me back into spirit form after Lancer had me dead to rights."

"Oh…" Taiasu stares at the floor with a sad frown. "So we still know nothing…"

"Hold still, Archer," she says. Taiasu takes a few steps back to give her the needed room and watches with his breath held tightly in his chest.

_Will this work? What if it does? What does that mean?_

"So first he did…" She looks at Archer as she tries to remember the movements she'd seen Taiasu perform earlier that day.

"Just let the stone show you," he says. "Don't worry about how I did it."

She nods and closes her eyes, trying to get an image in her mind. After a few seconds, her eyes snap open. She kneels close to the ground, and as she springs upward, she rolls her left arm back, keeping the chakram horizontal to the ground. She extends her right arm out and toward Archer. As she completes the graceful movement, a red light radiates outward from both she and Archer, along with the many ephemeral pointed golden rings. The light brings with it a brief, stiff breeze, causing her hair to flair outward for a moment before it settles down gently on her shoulders.

Taiasu's eyes go quite wide and he can feel his face warming.

_Dancing… definitely suits her… No, stupid! Before that —_

"How are you feeling? Everything okay?" he asks.

She turns to him and grins, almost hopping as she hugs the two weapons to her chest for a moment before she takes in a breath to compose herself.

"That was… incredible!" she says, still grinning. "I've never felt anything like it! It was like my body just knew what to do… Is it always like that?"

"Not always… but before that, are you alright?" he asks again, his eyebrows pulling inward. "Nothing feeling off?"

"Hm?" She blinks a few times and looks herself over before nodding as she pushes her hair back from her shoulders. "Yeah… I mean, everything seems okay. Why?"

Taiasu sighs heavily. "Because this is all really new… All of this stuff works off aether. At least, I thought it did…" His mouth turns up in a soft, warm smile. "But if you can use that stone … maybe the energy of this world can serve as a reasonable substitute for aether. Maybe that guy can figure out how to make things work for me."

"Rin, I don't want to be a downer but I do not feel any different," Archer says, his stare tracing a path between Taiasu and Tohsaka.

She shakes her head. "You wouldn't yet. That was just entering a closed position… I can't believe I know what that even means," she says, grinning and shaking her head. "This is amazing. Anyway, this is the actual Waltz of Healing…"

She raises both her arms and the chakram cross over her head. Her left arm rolls behind her, while her right arm cuts across her form to the left before pulling its chakram back and up over her head. At the same time, she completes the delicate, graceful movement with her left arm, bringing the chakram down, up and across, ending with it resting in place below her right arm just above her waist. As the beautiful motions come to their finish, both her form and that of Archer's radiate a soft green light which encompasses the entirety of the darkened basement, illuminating it with its soft glow. The golden, pointed rings scatter and fade shortly after.

The entire movement takes less than a couple of seconds, but for Taiasu it feels like hours. Despite his best efforts, every subtle, soft flutter of her clothing, every swish of her fine, silken brown hair, even the brief flaring of her thigh-length skirt; none of it escapes his notice.

His mouth hangs slightly, and he can feel it going dry as his breathing becomes shallow. He tries to swallow the soft lump forming in his throat, which could have been his heart, had he not been feeling it hammering erratically in his chest.

_D… damn it… She's a friend, stupid… This is wrong!_

Finally, he's able to wrest control of himself and tear his eyes away from the scene with a particularly violent head-shake, then forcing his gaze back to the floor, though for all of his efforts his heart refuses to settle.

_And you're married, you gods damned idiot…!_

He grinds his teeth as he glares at the floor, fighting against the sliver of doubt worming its way into his mind.

_I am… I am married… right?_

Tohsaka's eyes, which had been closed the entire time, gradually open, and she pants slightly as she remains in the finished position, looking from Taiasu back to Archer, who blinks a few times as he pats his chest where Lancer's attack had forced him into submission just one day before.

"Did it work?" she asks, breathing slightly heavier than normal. "How do you feel? Did it help?"

Archer closes his eyes and his mouth forms into a firm line across his face, but he nods ever so slightly. "The injury is less severe, but still present."

Tohsaka frowns softly. "Hm… Let me try it again…"

Taiasu's eyes widen suddenly, and he lunges forward, hopping up and gripping her wrist as she prepares to bring it up over her head again. She stares at him as he lands softly and he shakes his head.

"You shouldn't…" he says firmly. "It takes time… When I use that, it's only once every few hours. Too much, and you'll risk straining your body. It has to recover from the stress. Whatever your body used to produce the effect, it has to form it from something raw. For me, it's aether. For you, it's something else. The motions take care of that, but it still takes a toll." He relaxes his grip. "Please, just… don't do it again right now."

Her mouth forms a small circle as it opens slightly before she smiles and nods. "Right. Sorry, Archer…"

He smirks and nods. "It wasn't for nothing. It may have gained me an entire day."

"One other thing…" Taiasu says, suddenly blushing furiously.

"Hm? What's that?"

"I wouldn't… use that in front of Emiya…"

Her head leans slightly. "Really? Why not?"

Archer reads him and laughs for a second. "Because the kid would fall for you like a lead weight if he saw you moving like that."

Taiasu stares hard at the floor, going an even deeper shade of red, and nodding almost imperceptibly.

She stares between Archer and Taiasu, going just a bit red herself.

"R-really?"

"Yeah…" Taiasu mumbles. "It was… incredibly beautiful."


	33. Not a Mimic

Taiasu swallows hard against the lump in his throat and shakes his head aggressively, trying to free the image of Tohsaka's graceful, bewitching movements from his mind. His eyes squeeze shut as he tries to recall the image of the woman and the scene that had played out in his dream last night, and takes in a large breath. Finally, his heart settles down and he opens his eyes and looks back up at his friend with a clear head.

"Yeah… It was incredible," he says, with a shy grin. "It reminds me a lot of that troupe I saw back when I got that crystal."

Tohsaka's head leans slightly as she watches his internal struggle play out, and she blushes a shade of red at his statement.

"It was that good, huh?" she says with a sly grin.

He gives a single, firm nod. "It was. You have a natural talent for it."

Her slight redness deepens, and she frowns, turning her head away. "Humph. I don't know what you're thinking, trying to flatter me like that."

"What are you planning to do now, Rin?" Archer interjects. "Will you be remaining here?"

She turns to him now and shakes her head. "Sorry, but you'll be on your own for a while. We'll be going back to Shirou's place for now." She smiles sadly. "I'll trust your judgement for when you're fit to join us. Until then, just focus on your recovery."

"You are going to Emiya Shirou's house?" Archer asks, leaning his head slightly. "Is that wise?"

"It should be fine. Why wouldn't it?"

"Because the boy is a Master who has a Servant, right?"

She shakes her head again. "He's a master pretty much in name only. We've agreed to cooperate, and he's a pretty level-headed fellow, so I don't think he'll be doing anything bad."

Archer sighs. "That is good to hear, but what about his Servant? This Saber?"

"She seems fine too," Taiasu says. "She doesn't seem like the sort of person who would attack someone unprovoked. She said she let Lancer leave after he stopped fighting, right?"

Tohsaka nods. "If you want to complain, I'll listen after you recover, Archer," she says, tweaking his nose and forcing him back a step. "Until then, just do what I said and focus on your recovery. You can join us after that, alright?"

He folds his arms and stares at the floor before offering a silent, curt nod and returning to the carved circle in the floor of her basement. His legs cross as he sits in the center, and his form fades and then vanishes.

* * *

"Can you carry that all the way?" Tohsaka asks, pointing at the chest.

Taiasu grins and nods. "Shouldn't be a problem. I'll just think of it as some exercise."

Her eyebrow arches slightly as she looks him up and down. "Are you going to walk the entire way in that?" she asks, gesturing to his set of red leathers.

He nods. "Don't know why I wouldn't. I imagine a walking chest would draw less attention than a floating chest, right?"

She smiles and nods. "Fair point."

Her mouth hangs just slightly as she watches him heft the chest over his head with what seems like no effort at all.

_That's just far too strange… He's way too small to be that strong._

Her mind flashes to when he'd held back Berserker's attack last night, and she shakes her head in disbelief as she lifts the large tote from the ground and slings the strap over her shoulder.

Taiasu trots the chest to where he'd taken off his footwear and sets it down for a moment as he dons his red leather boots. Tohsaka leans down to slip on her flats and walks past as Taiasu lifts the chest over his head and carries it over the threshold. He hears the door swing closed behind him and pokes his head out from under the chest as he turns to see her briefly gesture toward the door.

"All set. Let's go," she says, turning and heading down the path toward the large, gated entrance of her mansion.

He keeps his eyes on her feet as they walk, being able to see little else.

* * *

Emiya lies on his back on a couple of the green tatami mats of his living room floor, heaving an exhausted sigh. Taiasu and Tohsaka have just left, and a measure of peace has returned to his life for the moment. He stares at the ceiling, blinking a few times and frowning thoughtfully. Other than his soft breathing, only the ticking sound of a wall clock is there to keep him company.

"A fight between master's, huh?" He rolls onto his side. "At least, that's what it's supposed to be, but things seem to have become a lot more than that…"

_Even without Taiasu's 'friend', that guy in the cloak, adding complications to this, I still wouldn't have a clue… Then there's that stupid 'prize'…_

He flops over onto his back and stares at the ceiling some more. "Why is loathing all I feel toward this 'Holy Grail' thing? Even after everything Tohsaka said, I couldn't care less about it…"

His eyes slip closed for a moment.

_Even if I was sure it was real… using something like that, taking the easy way out._

His frown deepens. "It feels like a cheat… Even if that weren't the case, the thing picks its owner using such a violent method. Can it really be a good thing to have?"

His eyes gradually open, and he reaches his hand up toward the ceiling.

_I don't care about this stupid war. I'm not in this for such a lame prize._

His hand closes, and he lets it drop to the mat beside him. "I only care about stopping people who would put others in harm's way."

He takes in a deep breath and winces slightly.

_Even with what Taiasu did, I guess I'm still not completely recovered…!_

The image of the girl, standing, supporting herself with her unseen sword flashes into his mind. Armor split, holding her side, and generous amounts of red flowing from her injury over her hand, pouring to the ground.

He sits bolt upright and then scrambles to his feet. "Right, her! How could I forget that! Tohsaka never even told me anything about Saber except that she carried me back…"

The image of her holding him and carrying him causes his breath to stop short for a moment.

_She carried me…?_

Her face flashes through his mind. Gorgeous green eyes. Fine, soft features. Delicate golden hair. He claps the sides of his head and shakes it aggressively.

_Stop that, stupid! I need to go find her…_

He begins his search of the house. From the living room into the hallway, flanked on one side by several glass paned sliding doors leading to the yard, and the other side by several vacant guest rooms. He grunts a bit as his head swirls slightly.

"Stupid… brain! My body is fine, so just catch up already!" He claps the back of his head again to stop his mind's baseless protests as he moves through the hall, stumbling a few times, and checks each of the guest rooms, finding all of them to be vacant.

_Damn it… Where could she be?_

He frowns hard and rubs his forehead. "Tohsaka said they can go into spirit form, but Saber said that she can't…" He grumbles and shakes his head. "Why do they keep saying I'm a Master if I can't even do something as basic as finding my own Servant?"

_It's like handing a grunt a nuclear warhead… Well, at least this nuke can fly itself—!_

"Damn it, stupid!" He thumps his forehead into the nearest wall. "She's not a weapon!"

His search takes him to the entrance hall of his residence. Crowded with several dressers of similar height, each laden with boxes, chests, cabinets, and other miscellaneous odds and ends.

_Stupid house… If it weren't for Fuji-nee and me playing here as a kid, I'd be getting lost each time I had to use the bathroom._

"Not here either…" He closes the door he'd just opened after a cursory examination of the room behind it and frowns. "So the yard then… Either the shed or—!"

_The dojo?_

He follows the entrance hall to the hall leading to the yard, and proceeds to the large dojo that sits on the property alongside the main residence. His hand rests on the door that leads in and he hesitates.

_What if she's not there… She wouldn't just leave, would she?_

He shakes his head.

_Wait… I know nothing about her but…_

He swallows hard and completes his thought.

_I still want her to be here? I want her to stay?_

He swallows again and pushes against the door, and it glides open effortlessly, revealing the room within. A simple room with a flat ceiling, a wooden floor polished to a reflective shine, four walls, and little else worth mentioning. Light pours into the room from the window facing the yard.

He glances around and he breathes a silent sigh of relief.

_She's here… Thank god._

Sitting as she had been the previous night when she was sipping her tea, the young woman now sits in the room's corner, resting on her legs which sit side by side, tucked underneath her. Different from the preceding night, she wears a perfectly normal set of clothing. A white blouse with a narrow strip of blue cloth under the collar which rests tied in a bow at the neck, a dark blue skirt which comes down to her knees, and a pair of black stockings. The light from the sun basks over her still and silent form as she rests in the warmth it provides with her eyes gently closed.

_And she looks okay… better than okay. Beautiful, even—jeez, what the hell is wrong with me!?_

He smacks the back of his head again.

The room is silent and peaceful, and the tranquil atmosphere is enhanced simply by the young woman's presence.

_She looks younger than me. Where did she learn to sit Japanese-style like that…?_

He continues to stare at her and think silly thoughts, unable to even take a single step closer.

_This is… just like yesterday…_

He swallows again, recalling the scene. Her standing over him, asking him for an order before turning and leaving him and Tohsaka in the shed. Just thinking about it again causes his face to grow warm. His stare grows more intense as she remains still and silent.

_Is she… Will she really be okay with someone like me as her Master?_

Time passes. The amount is impossible to measure for how deeply lost in her and his observations of her he is before her eyes slowly open. A soft gasp slips through his lips and he can feel himself frown for the moment ending. Saber stands upright and turns toward him, and he walks toward her without uttering a single word.

"You are awake now, Shirou?" she says, her voice calm, tranquil, and a perfect match for the atmosphere. It echoes softly for the room being so vacant.

"Yeah… Just a little while ago," he says, turning his stare to the floor.

She takes a half step forward, bringing herself closer to him. "Shirou? Your face is pale. Are you ill?"

If his face had been pale, it stops being the case and he can feel it quickly progress through every shade of red as he takes a quick step back.

"N-no, I'm fine! I promise, everything's fine!" he stammers out.

Saber slightly shifts her head to one side, watching his reaction, as he takes in a deep breath to calm his chest's hammering heart.

"Why am I so nervous? Seriously…"

Despite his efforts, his heart continues to thrum incessantly.

"Maybe it's her clothes… Her clothes?" He gives a brief head shake. "She changed clothes?"

He looks back up at her and realizes what his eyes had seen, yet failed to communicate to him effectively. Simple, casual clothes, in stark contrast to the armor she had been wearing the day before.

_Gh… she's…_

He forces his gaze to the floor again.

_I knew she was, but she's just way too beautiful…_

"Shirou?"

He looks up at her face when she calls out to him, and his mind locks up again. He gives himself another vigorous head-shake.

_Come on, stupid. Get your head in gear!_

"Sorry… Saber, right? I know we haven't had much of a chance to talk, but—"

She locks him in a hard stare. "Before that, I need to talk to you about last night."

"Last night? What about last night?"

"Your behavior was ill advised, at best," she says, frowning. "You endangered your life to save not just one, but two enemy Masters. The choice you made was…" Her stare intensifies into a glare. "It was incomprehensible. I cannot understand it."

"Ah…" Shirou's mouth hangs as he grasps for words. "You're… upset over that?"

She nods once firmly and continues to glare at him. "Unless you can provide a satisfying explanation for your actions, I cannot accept them."

"You want me to explain why I shoved two girls out of the way of a monster's sword-swing?" he says. His stare drops to the floor. "It wasn't like I was planning to get hurt or killed… Tohsaka is a classmate, and that other girl…" He looks back up at Saber again.

"I just didn't want to see either of them get hurt or killed, okay? I'm sorry I upset you. I still don't understand a lot of this. This war, this 'Holy Grail' thing. Being a Master, you being a Servant, I don't get any of it right now!" His words come loud and fast. "But for me they were just two girls about to be killed, and I can't stand by and let that happen if I can do something to stop it!"

His hand comes up and covers his mouth as Saber's eyes widen.

"Sorry…" he mutters. "I shouldn't have yelled like that."

She sighs. "That is what you were thinking?"

Shirou nods. "I'm sorry I upset you. It wasn't my plan to get hurt," he mutters.

Saber's eyes return to normal and she smiles softly. "I can accept that," she says. "But in the future, please do not place yourself in harm's way if you can avoid it. It would have been quite upsetting for me if you had been killed last night."

He looks back up at her and his eyes widen slightly.

_She'd have been upset?_

"I… can't promise that," he says, and her eyes widen again. "My feelings on that won't change. If I can do something to save someone, even at the cost of my body, I will… If that's a problem, then…" He grasps for his words, but comes up short, and his gaze hits the floor.

She stares at him unblinkingly for several seconds.

_He would risk his own life for something like that?_

"I have to thank you, though… for bringing me home last… night…" He looks back up at her and goes red again.

_Damn it, every time I think about that, I remember she's a girl, and that a girl that beautiful was carrying me like that…!_

He claps his face and bows toward her. "So… thank you for that."

She smiles warmly. "You are welcome. It is only natural for a Servant to act in such a manner, but hearing you thank me does make me happy. Not every Master is so polite."

He shakes his head while righting himself. "I'm not sure if I'm going to be an exception… Sorry, I never asked, but is it okay for me to call you Saber?"

She nods. "That form of address is fine. Since we have formed this contract, I will follow your orders. I will act as your sword to defeat your enemies, and as your shield to protect you."

Shirou's brow arches upward. "I… was just asking about what I should call you. I don't know about the rest of that stuff… But my sword? To win this Holy Grail War?"

Her eyes widen, and her mouth drops slightly. "That is why you summoned me, yes? Am I mistaken?"

He shakes his head. "No, that was… an emergency. I summoned you because Tohsaka said a bunch of stuff, and then that other guy was fighting against that guy in blue. Lancer, right?" He frowns and stares at the floor. "Though if I hadn't, it sounds like he probably would have killed us all, so I guess it's a good thing I did…"

He sighs heavily.

_Even if it was an emergency, it doesn't change things. I'm just some amateur, and in way over my head here…_

"It doesn't matter though, right? I decided I have to fight."

"Shirou?"

"Huh?" He looks up and her eyes draw him in again. "Gh… sorry. I was just talking to myself."

He takes in a deep breath and lets it out slowly. "I owe you a proper answer. I didn't summon you because I planned on participating in this Holy Grail War." Her eyes narrow, but he holds up his hands. "Please let me finish. It wasn't my intent, but… after some things I've heard, I've decided that I'll fight after all."

Her face relaxes with a soft smile and she nods. "It makes me glad to hear you say that."

Another sigh escapes him and his gaze hits the floor again. Had his gaze carried actual weight, the floor would be pitted by now. "I have to tell you though, if I'm being honest… I don't like our chances of winning are with me as your Master. I'm not as smart or as qualified as a Magus as Tohsaka, and I'm not able to fight like Taiasu can…" His mouth forms into a thin line. "Even though that's true, I'm also not going to stand by and do nothing when someone's in trouble, so I can't promise things won't turn out like they did yesterday. Or worse…"

He forces himself to look her in the eye. "Are… are you going to be okay with that?"

"Are you saying you lack the will to fight?" She matches his gaze, and he shakes his head.

"No. I'm willing… I just don't think we have much of a chance is all. I'm asking if you're okay with being the Servant of such a Master…"

"You are my Master, Shirou," she answers calmly. "This fact will not change. A Servant does not have the freedom to choose their Master."

"I wasn't asking that…" he mutters. "I understand your circumstances, but I wanted to know if you were okay with them. I'll try asking it this way—Saber, are you content with me as your Master?"

She nods. "I am. But Shirou." She locks him in her gaze. "I will not allow defeat for my Master. If you feel you do not have a chance for victory, then I will make one for you. By whatever means possible, I will have you obtain the Holy Grail."

Shirou blushes under her gaze and warm smile, but smiles softly himself and glances down at the floor.

_To obtain the Holy Grail, huh? Didn't Tohsaka say Servants also have wishes they want granted?_

He looks back up at her.

_I wonder what she wants from it… Wait… She said whatever means?_

"Sorry, hold on Saber." His smile drops. "You said whatever means… Does that mean you don't care what you have to do? Like attacking innocent people to gain pow—"

Her eyes narrow and she frowns sharply. "Shirou, I said whatever means possible. What you are describing is not a possibility for me." She speaks with a cutting tone. "I will only do the things that do not conflict with my personal beliefs and attacking innocents or those who are unarmed violates my oath as a knight." Her hands tighten and she lets her gaze fall to the floor. "If you wish for me to act in such a way, it will require you to use one of your Command Spells."

Shirou's eyes widen for a moment, but he smiles and sighs in relief.

_I was worried… I thought she'd be some sort of emotionless machine._

"I see… Thank god." He shakes his head. "I'd never ask you to do something like that. It's like you said. We can only do what's possible for us. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to insult you like that."

He bows in contrition. Her eyes widen, and her mouth drops slightly at his reply.

"No… Please raise your head," she says with a soft smile. "You are not to blame. It was my misunderstanding. I drew a conclusion without understanding your intention."

"Huh?" He stands upright and looks into her face again. "Oh, sorry. I apologized before I was even aware…" Seeing her expression evokes another relieved sigh.

_She's smiling at least… That's good. Oh right, there was that other thing —_

"There was something else. The girl yesterday, Tohsaka. We've agreed to cooperate for the time being."

"You mean Rin?" Her smile dissolves into a fine line. "That is a prudent decision. I am certain she will be a great asset in helping you to become a more proper Master."

"That's a relief… I was worried what you might say…" he says, resting his hand on his chest and his gaze naturally traces her form to the floor.

_Huh…? Oh yeah, that too…_

"I know this is sort of sudden, but where did you get those clothes, Saber?"

She glances down at herself and then back up. "Rin prepared them for me. Since I cannot enter spirit form, she lent me these so I would not draw undue attention. Why do you ask?"

"Ah, I just thought they looked good on you—!"

No sooner do the words fall from his mouth than every drop of blood his body has to spare pools into his face, heating it like a furnace and turning it shades of red for which no names yet exist.

_Gah, what the hell did I just say!?_

Saber turns a soft shade of red, but beyond that maintains her composure.

Shirou claps himself with both hands and drags them down his face. "But besides that, I was also wondering, what about your armor?" he stammers out quickly. "The armor you were wearing yesterday? I was wondering what happened to it?" His face cools slightly as the blood returns from it to his brain.

"Please do not concern yourself with that," she says, her face returning to its normal, light colored complexion. "I am able to control when I wear the armor, so when I am dressed like this, I will be leaving it off. It is woven by my magical energy. I can bring it out as necessary."

"You can call it out when you like?" He sighs. "That's amazing… Sort of like what Taiasu could do?"

"Taiasu? You mean the small person?" she says, her mouth turning in a sad frown.

"Yeah… I forgot to mention—"

"I feel bad for what happened to him…" she says, cutting him off. "I felt bad for Rin, having to carry his body back here like that."

Shirou's eyes widen and his head shifts slightly to one side.

_His… body?_

"He fought well. I would have liked to have gotten to know him better."

"Wait, Saber, do you think—"

Shirou's inquiry is truncated by the sound of something dropping to the floor.

* * *

"Just hold on a bit longer, Taiasu," Tohsaka says.

He grunts under the chest, which remains suspended over his head by his arms.

_This is so dumb… I can't believe I got this tired from carrying this stupid thing._

The return trip had been uneventful, except for a few children laughing and calling him a 'mimic'. Uneventful though it had been, he had failed spectacularly in his estimation of both his own endurance, and the distance he had to walk with the chest held aloft.

The door to Emiya's residence clicks open and Tohsaka steps inside, looking around for a few seconds.

"Tohsaka, your… shoes…" he grunts, following her just inside. He steps on the toe of his left boot and slides his foot out before doing the same with his right.

"I don't think he's in here… Saber went to his dojo after we got back. We should check there first."

Taiasu frowns "Damn… it! You might… have said that before… I got these… stupid things off…"

She chuckles. "You can always set it down, you know."

He shakes his head, which causes the chest to twist to and fro. "No… way! My pride… is at stake… I won't be… done in by a stupid… box!" he grunts as he attempts to slip his boots back on, finding a measure of success that comes only after biting back more than a few of the more colorful swears he knows.

"Alright… Dojo, you… said?" he grunts as he finishes sliding his left boot on. "Lead on… I'll… follow…!"

She sighs and shakes her head.

_So he has that sort of side to him too, huh? Must be a guy thing…_

He watches her feet and follows carefully, swaying a bit but managing to steady himself. She leads him through the house and out into the yard before arriving at a large building. From inside, he can hear Saber's muffled voice.

"He fought well. I would have liked to have gotten to know him better."

Taiasu grunts again as Tohsaka slides the door open and steps through, with him walking in behind her.

"Wait, Saber, do you think—"

Tohsaka lets the bag down and Emiya and Saber turn toward the sound of it dropping.

"Huh?" Emiya's gaze traces a path to her and her bag, and his brain locks up.

_Wait, what?_

His gaze then moves back to her, and his eyes widen.

_Wait, she changed—those are her casual clothes?_

Then his eyes fall to the two bladed rings suspended at her sides.

_Those too… Okay, wait… What?_

"Tohsaka? What happened? Why are you here again?"

His gaze moves to the chest that seems to wobble back and forth on two legs, and his head leans to one side.

"Wait… you have a mimic? Wait, before that, mimics are real?"

"Tohsaka, can I… set this thing down… please?"

"I said you could, but you were muttering about your pride," she says, smirking. "Now I kind of want to see how long you can hold it over your head."

"Tohsakaaaa!"

Saber glances down at the chest wobbling about and leans her head slightly.

"Fine, just be careful with it," Tohsaka says with a slight laugh.

With another grunt, he makes his way out from under it and lets it come to a rest with a gentle thump on the floor. He wipes his forehead and brings his gloved hand back, saturated with perspiration.

_Jeez, I'm never going to do that again if I can help it…_

Saber's eyes widen and her mouth opens slightly as she takes a few steps forward.

_He survived?_

He stretches and groans as his back pops in a few places while he heaves an exhausted sigh as he glances around the room.

"Wait, it's not a mimic?" Emiya's head straightens, and he rubs his neck. "Hold on, you walked all the way through town with that thing over your head?"

Taiasu's red face returns to normal after being freed from the weighty burden. "Yeah, but I won't be doing it again if I can help it," he mutters. "And yeah, mimics are real."

"Wait, they are?" Tohsaka and Emiya both respond in unison, looking down at him, and he nods.

"And very difficult to deal with," he grumbles "They make it impossible to naturally recover from injuries for a really long time."

"You…" Saber, silent until now, speaks while walking toward him and kneeling down to his level. "You survived?"

He can see his reflection in her eyes, and her sudden closeness forces him back a step.

_Gh… why the hell is everyone in this world so damned pretty…!_

She regards him with careful consideration. "I believed Berserker had ended you. How did you withstand such an attack?"

"Huh? Wait, you thought…? Tohsaka, you let her think—Hey!"

She grabs his shoulders and spins him around, lifting his cape and tracing with her hand the path where Berserker's weapon had nearly split the small man in half.

"H-hey! That t-tickles! Wait, wh-why does that t-tickle?!" He twitches and squirms under her attentions.

_Right… Berserker split my armor, that's why…_

"And you have already recovered to such a degree?"

He takes a couple steps forward to put himself out of her reach and sighs before turning to look at her face to face. "It's like I said last night, I can recover pretty quickly once I'm out of a fight," he mutters, fixing his cape. "As long as I have the aether for it. Also, I used the Dancer's Soul Crystal this morning to help Emiya recover from his injury as well, and that helped me too. As for why I'm not dead—"

"Shingan…"

Taiasu looks up at Emiya as the words pass through his mouth. "Y… yeah. Shingan. You knew?"

Emiya nods. "The more I watched you fight, the more I remembered from the stone…"

"What is Shingan?" Saber asks, standing up again.

"It's kind of hard to explain…" Taiasu says, frowning thoughtfully. "When I'm attuned with the Samurai's Soul Crystal, I can channel a small amount of aether into my mind to allow me to glimpse a moment in time when an enemy's attack will be less severe, and how I can make that moment be the one that happens…"

"Future sight?" Tohsaka says as her eyes widen.

"I guess…? But the window is tiny," he says, looking back up at Emiya. "Only a few seconds. But there's more—"

Emiya nods. "Jigen, right?"

Taiasu grins. "Yep. Jeez, you'd be a natural Samurai… Jigen can force a fresh wound closed, to a certain degree, but only if it was predicted by Shingan." His grin dips. "It hurts to think about… but after I fell, I knew the hit was coming. Shingan helped me see how I could avoid a fatal blow… Turns out the best way was to just lay there, oddly enough. Then I used Jigen to keep myself from bleeding out after he ripped his weapon from my back."

"That is… remarkable," Saber says, staring down at him.

He shakes his head. "It would have been better if I hadn't fallen, but…" He frowns. "I went too hard again. Not so hard as I had against Lancer, but hard enough for that to happen… And even if I didn't die, I was still taken out of the fight."

"That explains how you're not dead, and we're glad for that, but…" Emiya gestures toward the bladed rings at Tohsaka's side. "What about those?"

"He let me use the Soul Dancer's Crystal," Tohsaka says, grinning. "It was… pretty amazing."

Taiasu's head leans to one side.

_Soul Dancer…? No, it's… Actually, I think I like the sound of that better._

"What for?" Emiya asks.

"For the same thing, he used it for this morning, only for Archer's sake," she says. "It wasn't as helpful as it was for you, but Archer said it did something for him at least."

"He said that before. He used it on Shirou?" Saber says, and Taiasu nods.

"Waltz of Healing," he and Tohsaka say in unison. He glances up at her, and she nods, showing her deference. " _Soul Dancer's_ can meld and manipulate aether into something that can be released to help speed up natural healing processes," he says.

"It's healing magic," Tohsaka says, smiling.

Taiasu shrugs. "Close enough. We have that too, but I never learned any of it… Wait, you have healing magics here?"

She and Emiya nod in unison, and then Emiya's gaze drops again to the large bag and chest now on the floor near the entrance to the dojo.

"So why are you here, again? I asked, but I got… distracted." He mumbles the last part.

"Oh, that?" She lightly kicks the bag with her foot. "I was always coming back. I had to go get some stuff from my house, since I'll be staying here, right?"

Emiya's eyes widen and he balks. "You—living here? Since when!?"

"Since we're cooperating," she says, pushing her hair back. "It only makes sense, after all."

His mouth flaps a few times, but fails to produce more than a few inarticulate mutterings.

_Something terrible is happening…_

"So where's my room?" she says, smiling with her entire face. "Unless you don't have one ready. In that case, I can prepare it myself."

"Hey, hold on, I didn't—"

_This is awful. If people find out the school's idol is living with me—that's how rumors get spread! It'll be like throwing a lit match into a pile of dry leaves! And that's if Fuji-nee doesn't flay me first!_

"You should probably prepare a room for her also," she says, gesturing toward Saber. "Since she can't dematerialize, she'll need someplace to sleep. Unless you planned to share your room with her?" She grins like an imp.

"S-stupid! That's impossible! We can't share a room, she's a girl!" His words tumble out like the marbles he's so desperately trying to keep himself from losing.

"He'd probably like someplace to sleep too, right, Taiasu?" she says, ignoring his protests.

"I mean… I'd rather sleep indoors than outside, if it's an option," he says, scuffing his foot on the polished dojo floor.

"Hey, don't ignore me! We're not done talking about where Saber will sleep yet!"

"You're still going on about that?" Tohsaka folds her arms and sighs. "But if that's how he feels. You heard what Shirou said, right Saber? He doesn't want to be in the same room as a girl."

Taiasu quickly turns red.

_Please don't remember, please don't —_

She grins and glances down at him. "Oh yeah… That reminds me—"

He looks up at her, pleading and begging silently with his eyes.

"—of you staying at my place, Taiasu."

His gaze hits the floor like a slab of concrete.

_She's… ruthless. Merciless…_

"Huh?" Emiya looks down at him the hole he's currently trying to stare into the floor. "What's she mean?"

Her grin broadens. "Oh, just that he didn't want to sleep in my room."

Taiasu whimpers, covering his head.

"So where did he sleep?" Emiya asks, his head tilting slightly.

"In my room," she says plainly. "On the floor… at least until Archer—"

"STOP! PLEASE JUST STOP!" he says, holding his head between his knees, and Tohsaka finally yields after laughing for a moment.

"You're evil…" he mutters as she finishes her brief laughing fit.

She settles down, but still wears her playful smirk. "No, you're just fun to pick on. Same as him," she says, turning back to Emiya. "And on that note, what are you going to do about Saber?"

"What's there to do?" he says, turning red. "She can't stay in my room!"

"That is not acceptable, Shirou. The times you are sleeping are when you are most vulnerable, and I cannot act as your shield if I am not with you during those times." Saber stares hard at Emiya, wearing a small frown with her eyebrows tilting inward.

"You can glare at me all you like, but I won't be changing my mind!" he says desperately. "Don't you even get what it means for a guy and a girl to be sharing the same room!?"

Both of their eyes widen and their mouths slack slightly as they stare at him without responding.

"Servants are just Servants," Tohsaka says after a few moments. "Treating them like a human being is pointless."

"You can't say that!" Taiasu says, looking up at her. "I mean, she looks just as much a Hyur as you do! You might say that about Berserker, but her, Archer, even Lancer are as much the same as you are!" He scuffs his foot a bit. "Just… you know, really super-strong."

Emiya glances down at him. "Wait, Hyur?"

"Gh…" He bites his lower lip. "Damn it… Yeah, Hyur… Well, you call them human here. Sorry… I'll try to keep that straight."

"They may look the same as us, but I promise you they aren't," Tohsaka says. "But I guess it's useless trying to convince Shirou of that."

Emiya frowns softly on hearing her speak again.

_Wait, something's off…_

"Hold on, Tohsaka… When did you start using my name?"

Her eyes widen slightly and her mouth hangs a bit. "I am? I guess I wasn't aware. Must have been for a while now."

He frowns and mutters something to himself.

"If it's a problem, I can stop, but is it a problem? You don't like it?"

His frown cuts deeper into his face and he folds his arms, glancing away.

 _She just does what she wants. Damn it, Issei, why'd you have to be so right about her…_?

"Fine, whatever. I don't care, whichever you prefer."

"If you're sure, I'll do that then," she says with a small smile.

"I'll still call you Emiya," Taiasu says.

"Gh…" He glances down at him and frowns.

_Right, he asked me that a while ago too. I never did answer him…_

He sighs "No, it's fine… I'd feel weird if only one person is doing it. Just call me like they are," he says.

"R-really? I mean, if you're sure… I don't want to offend…" He scuffs the floor with his red boot a few times. "It will probably take me some time to switch over… I got used to using your last name."

Shirou smiles a bit. "Well, take your time with it, it's fine."

"Sorry, but can we please address the issue of where I will be sleeping?" Saber says with a small frown.

"We can try, but I think it will be hard with Shirou acting like he is," Tohsaka says with a small smile and her inner brow arching upward. "He can't seem to see you as anything but human. You may have to give up."

Saber holds her hands on her hips and continues to try staring Shirou down. "I did not hear him say that he was dead-set against it, Rin. It just seems troublesome for him at this point."

"Well, that's what you're saying, but what are you saying, Shirou?" Tohsaka smirks with her entire face as she also stares him down

His gaze hits the ground like a stone.

_She really doesn't care and just keeps using my first name like that… Fine, whatever. I'll just have to get used to it, but the big problem is Saber's room._

"Shirou, I will ask you again. A Servant's duty is to guard their Master at all times, and especially when they are sleeping." Saber continues to hold him fast in her gaze. "You understand that in this case, as my Master, that means that I have to be guarding you as your Servant, yes?"

He glances up at her and sees her small frown, but he still shakes his head.

_How am I supposed to keep my cool with someone like that sleeping in the same room?_

"I'm sorry, I'll prepare a separate room nearby. One as close as possible. Can you please be happy with that?"

Saber continues to glare at him, and Tohsaka maintains her impish grin. Taiasu frowns and shakes his head.

_Poor guy… I get where he's coming from—!_

The image of the woman he believes to be his wife from his dream flashes through his mind and he winces slightly against it.

_No… actually, I only think I do. I need to get this sorted out sooner, rather than later…_

"Y-you can't change my mind with intimidation, alright?" he stammers out against Saber's vexed glare. "I won't yield on this! See it from my perspective, alright?"

"I do not understand, Shirou," Saber says. "Please explain it more clearly."

"Kh-!" His face burns like a stove top that someone forgot to turn off.

_Damn it, is she really going to make me say it…!_

He fidgets, wringing his hands. "F-fine… I can't stay in the same room with you because—"

"Don't you understand?" Tohsaka says, grinning. "He doesn't want you in the same room as him because he's afraid he might attack you."

"T-TOHSAKA!" Shirou yells as his face turns even more new shades of red.

"Attack? That would be most unwise," Saber says obliviously. "I am reasonably certain that I could defend myself were he to choose to do so."

Tohsaka shakes her head and sighs. "No, not like that. I mean—"

She leans in close and speaks low into Saber's ear. Shirou's head feels about two seconds away from bursting into flames.

_Damn you, you evil witch!_

Taiasu glances between all three of them, rubbing the back of his head. As Tohsaka speaks, Saber's eyes widen, narrow, and her face goes slightly red for a few seconds.

"Understand now?" Tohsaka says, pulling away.

"Not entirely," Saber says. "Though such things have happened between Master and Servant in the past, it is not as if he could force such a thing to occur, so I do not understand his concern."

"It is a concern!" Shirou says plaintively. "Even if I couldn't, and I absolutely positively would never even consider thinking of even trying such a thing, unless we were both okay with it, it would still be a huge problem for me!" His words pour out like water from a broken faucet.

"Unless you were—"

"How am I supposed to sleep if you're sleeping right next to me like that!?" He cuts Tohsaka's prodding question off before she can finish. "If I can't make you understand something like that, I'll just have to use my Command Spell!"

Saber frowns slightly. "That you would do such a thing is problematic," she says sharply. "We will fail for a certainty if you were to force me into a position where I could not protect you like that."

Tohsaka crosses her arms and sighs. "He'd be the first and last. I'd imagine there are some Masters who would use it to force sex on their Servants, but I never heard of one who would use it to force them to abstain."

"Kh, TOHSAKA!" Shirou groans in near agony at her tactless bluntness. "Please at least ACT with some decency!"

"I am not pleased with this, but if it is the only way, I will follow Master's plan," she says, sighing. "But what if you were attacked? Some Servants, like Assassin, can hide themselves. Would you be able to protect yourself until I arrive?"

"Uh, well…" He stares at the floor, wringing his hands.

Tohsaka smirks. "That shouldn't be an issue," she says. "This house has a boundary field that can let us know if we have any uninvited guests. Having to deal with a large group would still be a problem, but you should be able to reach him in time otherwise, so you can choose whichever room you like."

Saber's face is still fraught with concern. "I am still not okay with this…"

"What about right next to Shirou's room?" Tohsaka says, still smirking and clearly loving every moment. "It's fine if she's not in your room, right, Emiya-kun?"

He frowns hard.

_Gh… Why is she switching back now?_

"Fine. I guess I can work with that," he grumbles.

"So with that resolved, where will I be staying?" Tohsaka asks as she grabs her bag and walks off. She stops at the door and glances down at her chest. "Taiasu, can you get that for me once I find a good enough room?"

He sighs heavily and nods. "As long as the room isn't back at your place, sure."

Tohsaka nods and heads from the dojo toward the house.

"What… is that?" Shirou asks, pointing at the chest.

"It's like my pack, apparently," Taiasu says. "We met the guy who made it. Zelretch, I think he said his name was?"

"Zelretch?" Saber stares down at him now. "Kischur Zelretch?"

Taiasu nods. "I think he said that's what his name was… Apparently when Tohsaka got in contact with… whoever—! Oh, that reminds me!"

He digs into his pack and pulls out a small blue oyster shell. It flashes in his hand briefly before he pops it open, removing a small blue pearl.

"Tohsaka told me about something in your world called a phone, and it reminded me of this," he says, holding it out to Shirou. "She also said I should be careful about it because someone called 'Big Tel-Com' might come kill me if they found out I had it."

"We would not allow such a thing to happen, Taiasu," Saber says, smiling softly.

"Saber, Taiasu… Big Tel-Com isn't a person…" Shirou says, reaching out and taking the pearl. "But we can talk about that later… maybe. So what—!?"

_'Seriously, why are there so many rooms here?'_

Tohsaka's frustrated voice beaming directly into Shirou's mind causes him to nearly drop the pearl, and he spins around behind him. "Hah!? Tohsaka?"

_'What? Shirou? Where?'_

Taiasu watches their conversation with a sly grin.

 _'It's okay, Tohsaka. I gave him one of those blue pearls. I'm guessing you're still getting used to it. I've been filtering out your thoughts for a while now,'_ he communes to them both.

"Wait, she can hear me?" Shirou says, his eyes going wide.

_'Yes, I can hear you. And what do you mean, filtering out my thoughts, short man?'_

"It's something you can do if you don't want to hear someone's thoughts," Taiasu says, both out loud and through the pearl.

Shirou shakes his head. "This is already giving me a headache."


	34. Crash Course

Shirou kneads his forehead with one hand while his stare traces a path between the small blue pearl in his other, and Taiasu who had just handed it to him.

_I wonder what other tricks this guy has up his sleeves… Wasn't he saying something else before he pulled out that shell? Something about a phone call?_

"Taiasu, what were you saying before?" Shirou asks as he slips the small pearl into his pocket. "Something about a phone before you pulled that shell out?"

Taiasu's head tilts slightly as he pokes his chin. "Phone call…? Oh!" His eyes quickly widen and he snaps his fingers. "Right, I got distracted again…" His gaze drops, and he scuffs his foot again. "Sorry… I think if I hadn't brought out that shell, I'd have forgotten…"

He looks back up at Shirou with a bright smile and a sharp nod. "So I guess I'm not sorry I got distracted! That should be useful for us."

Shirou laughs awkwardly as he rubs the back of his head.

_But at the rate he's going, he'll forget again…_

"Okay, but can we talk about that phone call, please?"

"Right. The phone call… Tohsaka used what I guess was a phone and it let her talk to someone. We had to wait for a while. She seemed to get getting annoyed and—"

Saber leans her head and her eyes widen as he continues to jabber, and Shirou kneads his forehead.

"—And that was the third time she made me sit down. I guessed after that I should probably just wait for her to finish. It was really difficult, and I got super bored—"

"Taiasu, perhaps it would be better if you were to give us only the pertinent details?" Saber says with a calm smile.

_If he goes on like this, the war may be over before he is finished._

"Huh? Details?" He looks up and glances between Shirou and Saber. Saber's face is a picture of calm composure, while Shirou's is tightly knit with impatient frustration. "Oh, sorry. Right. Tohsaka was standing there for a while. After she finished, she looked pretty annoyed, and said we'd have to find someplace else to make the coins money spendable."

Shirou groans out a frustrated sigh. "Of course… It was too good to be true, wasn't it…"

"Sorry, Emiya… Shirou…" Taiasu pokes the floor with his booted foot a few times. "I'll make it right, I promise."

"Shirou? Make what right?" Saber glances from Taiasu up to Shirou.

"Er… You know what a TV is, Saber? You said you'd been here before?"

She nods. "My Master did have one, and I have seen them, so I am aware."

"Well, I have… had… one. Apparently he's seen them, too." Shirou's head slumps forward as he points to Taiasu. "Only the ones he saw were evil or something, so when I turned mine on to show him what it was, he killed it with his sword."

"He destroyed your TV?" Saber glances back down at Taiasu again, whose hands are currently wringing so tightly it looks like he's trying to bring water out of them.

"It was an accident… Sort of." He drops his hands and looks from the floor to Saber. "But I'll fix it! I'll make it right! It's part of the reason I went with Tohsaka earlier… Right, we were talking about that."

He pokes the side of his head for a second, recalling where he'd left off. "I still needed to leave all the empty crystals I've been carrying around. Tohsaka brought me into her room and she showed me that—" He points to the chest at the door. "—chest. She popped it open, and told me to just start dumping in my crystals, so I did… and then this hand popped out and grabbed one."

"A hand?" Shirou's eyes widen.

_This sounds like it's going to take a while…_

He lowers himself and plops down on the floor, crossing his legs and resting his chin on his hands. Saber seats herself as well, in the same manner she'd been when Shirou saw her when he'd first entered the dojo. Taiasu glances between the two and drops the twenty-five centimeters necessary for him to become seated as well.

"Just a hand?" Shirou asks.

Taiasu laughs. "No, it was connected to a person. This older guy dressed in black with a short cape and a cane. He knew…" His gaze drops for a moment and he sighs. "I guess I'll tell you. He called me the 'Warrior of Light'. I'll tell you what that is, too."

Shirou's mouth, which had just opened to ask, clips closed, and Saber's continues to watch and listen quietly.

"Tohsaka asked too, so she already knows. Telling everything would take far too long, so I'll shorten it as much as I can."

The boy breathes a relieved sigh and half-laughs.

_Oh, thank god._

"The world I'm from, Hydaelyn… It was formed by a sentient crystal of the same name."

"Sentient crystal?"

He looks up at Saber and nods. "Not like the ones I carry. This one is… megalithic. I've seen her only a handful of times. I can't even begin to describe her."

"Sorry, you keep calling it her? I thought it was a crystal?" Shirou says, raising his hand.

"She speaks with woman's voice, so… yeah."

"Ah… I see."

_The crystal has an actual voice…? What is this, a Tolkien novel?_

"She lives and has a consciousness. She's sort of the will of the world. During times of great turmoil, she selects people to champion her cause. Over five years ago, it happened before the fall of Dalamud…"

"What's Dalamud?"

Taiasu glances over at Shirou as he finishes his question. "One of the two moons of Hydaelyn. At least, it was before it fell. Getting into the details would take too long, so the shortest version is that one moon, Dalamud, was actually a prison for an enormous dragon called Bahamut. When the moon fell five years ago, Bahamut was released and wrought untold destruction in what would come to be known as the seventh umbral calamity."

Shirou's jaw drops as he tries to process what he's being told, and Saber's eyes widen considerably.

_A dragon? His world has dragons…?_

"Before that happened, several people were called by The Mothercrystal to be her chosen," Taiasu continues. "I wasn't one of them. I hadn't even started my life as an adventurer yet, but five years after the calamity, The Crystal, she called out to me. She never referred to me as the Warrior of Light, though. That was a title the people bestowed upon myself and those who came before me."

"What does she expect those she calls to do?" Saber asks.

"It depends on when they're called. I can't speak for everyone else. All I can say is what she asked me to do." His eyes slide closed. "She said that her light had grown dim, and that darkness was coming to end all life, and begged me to deliver everyone from this fate."

"Vague…" Shirou says, shaking his head.

Taiasu nods. "She was, yes. She spoke when I found a crystal different from the sort I generally find, and that there were several others that I needed to find. The journey to find them took me all across Eorzea and beyond."

"Eorzea?"

His eyes open and he glances over at Saber. "The largest known continent on Hydaelyn."

"But the way you describe it, it sounds like your work is finished?" Shirou says.

Taiasu shakes his head. "No. Not as long as the Ascians continue to scheme and plot to restore their god. If they win, we all lose…" His gaze drops, and his brow furrows into a tight knot in the center of his forehead. "That's why I'm glad that I came here. I don't know if Sobervre knows what he's talking about with this entire plot he has to steal your Holy Grail, but if he's going to try, then I'm going to stop him. So that's what the Warrior of Light, Hydaelyn's Chosen, is."

"You said the guy who popped out of the chest knew you were that?"

Taiasu nods. "Yeah…"

"How could he have known that?"

"I asked the same question. The answer was… unsettling."

Taiasu takes in a deep breath to steady his nerves before continuing. "So he came out and Tohsaka knew who he was after he said some stuff I didn't get. Apparently, this guy's name is Kischur Zelretch. She seemed pretty shaken."

Shirou's arms rest in his lap as he leans forward slightly, and Saber continues to watch and listen intently.

"He said he'd been observing my world for a while, and that's how he knew who I was. The reason he said he'd been able to observe my world had something to do with…" He frowns and rubs his forehead. "Big words. Something about a second sorcery, and parallel worlds, and streams of time… Then he said someone from my world had come to yours before."

"That's not so surprising," Shirou says. "I mean, if you're hear, then why wouldn't someone else be able to?"

Taiasu frowns. "Yeah… except that he made it sound like a big deal. I remember this part pretty vividly. He said it was sixty years ago, when this country was being forced into submission during the second world war."

Shirou's eyes widen. "The second world war?"

"Yeah… Tohsaka seemed a bit upset. The old guy said something about this country, and ley lines, and the interaction between the weapons and those ley lines… Then he said something else. That when that was happening here, someone or something in my world was basically attacking whatever separates our two worlds. The only thing I could think of was the Seventh Calamity that I was telling you about."

"Didn't you say that happened five years ago in your world?"

"Yeah… Tohsaka mentioned something about that, but the old guy said time moves differently between our two universes," he says, staring hard at the floor and tightly clenching his hands. "He said his best guess was when that was happening on my side, and whatever was happening over here was going on, someone, or multiple someones, used that to tear what separates our universes and move through that into your world."

"That sounds… plausible," Shirou says, staring at the floor. "I mean, I don't understand half of it, but—"

"If Kischur Zelretch believes this to be the case, it is likely he is not mistaken," Saber says coolly.

"Hold on. Saber, you know this Zelretch guy?" Shirou glances over at her.

"Not personally, but by reputation."

"After that, we talked about some other things, like how he gave the design for my pack to someone I know in my world." He pats his pack with tender affection. "Also, about the crystals and their uses… Then he said he wanted to start buying them."

"Wait, he wants to buy them? I thought you needed those to… like, not die?"

"Not those." Taiasu pulls out one of the lightless crystals. "These. He did some stuff with one of the smaller ones and then got excited and wrote some stuff down on a piece of paper and handed it to Tohsaka and then she got all excited."

"Wait, why to Tohsaka?"

"Because I'd agreed to give her all of those," Taiasu says, pointing at the crystal. "Since they're worthless to me, and since I owed her for Archer not killing me when we first met."

"Wait, what? Archer tried to kill you?"

He nods. "Yeah, I was following them after I got bored watching you move stuff around, and then they saw me and I wanted to introduce myself and it turned into a huge mess."

Shirou frowns.

_Sorry for being boring…_

"But after that, she gave me food and listened to me talk for a while, and then she used one of my crystals to set her yard on fire."

The dojo echoes with the sound of Shirou's head smacking into the floor as he falls backward in dramatic fashion. He sits back up and his eye twitches slightly.

_I'll have to get her to explain that one to me…_

Taiasu's head leans slightly. "You guy sure do that a lot. Anyway, she let me stay there, but you already knew that. We went to school, I fought Lancer, then Archer fought Lancer, then—"

His gaze drops like a stone.

_I don't want to think about the rest…_

"A-anyway… Sorry, I got off track. Because I said I'd let Tohsaka keep the crystals after she found a use for them, she'll be the one that guy is dealing with."

"Great for her, but if he's buying them from her, we're still going to need to get your coins turned into something we can spend," Shirou grumbles, staring at the floor. "I think you're going to be running up a serious amount of collateral damage."

"I thought that too, about the coins, but then Tohsaka said she'd share what she gets from the crystals with me."

Shirou looks up from the floor and blinks a few times. "Sh-she said that?"

Taiasu stares at the floor and pulls at his gloved fingers. "Yeah… I feel uncomfortable about it, but she said it would tip the scales too much for her to just take them all and sell them."

Shirou smiles slightly. "Hmm… Maybe she's a better person than I thought?"

"Shirou, I do not think your opinion of Rin accurately reflects reality," Saber says, glancing over at him.

"Huh? I haven't said anything about her for you to say something like that, Saber."

Her eyes widen. "Shirou, were you not aware? Servants and Masters share an empathic link. I am aware of what you are feeling in many cases."

"You're… aware?" Shirou's face bursts into flames. Almost. "T-Then… you know e-everything I'm thinking and…" He swallows against the concrete lump forming in his throat. "F-Feeling?"

"Not everything. Surface level feelings and thoughts are most clear, and particularly feelings of animosity or enmity. It is how I can know if you are in a dangerous situation and require my aid."

Shirou heaves a tremendously relieved sigh and falls on his back.

_Oh, thank god…_

_'Hey! Do you know how hard it is for me to focus on getting my room straight with all of your yammering bouncing around in my head!?'_

Shirou snaps upright and his gaze darts around the empty dojo. "T-Tohsaka…?"

_'The pearl, idiot!'_

_'Tohsaka, if it's a problem you can always just set it down someplace.'_

_'Set it… down. Of course. You should teach a class, Taiasu.'_

Shirou sighs and looks over at Saber, shaking his head. "I guess we'll just have to see if your opinion of her bears out, Saber. But if she's willing to share what she gets from those crystals with Taiasu, that will be a big help."

"And I can replace your TV… Sorry for that again," he mumbles the last part, poking the floor with his finger. Then his eyes widen and he scoots to face Shirou. "Hey, that reminds me—before, you were saying something? About a show?"

"Huh? A show?" Shirou's head shifts slightly to one side.

"Yeah, something you said your father used to watch before I, er…" He stares hard at the floor. "When I was telling you about my memory problems?"

"Huh…?"

_Show? Memory problems? What's he—!_

His eyes snap wide, and he smacks his fist into his hand.

"Oh, yeah! Right, I remember now. Yeah, it was this older show from the United States about this guy who was bouncing around in time. One of the major points in the story was how the process was scrambling his brain, making him forget really important stuff in his life," Shirou says, nodding. "One episode even revealed he'd been married the entire time. Kiritsugu, my father, he really liked it."

Saber's eyes widen, and she casts a sidelong glance at Shirou.

_Kiritsugu…? That Kiritsugu?_

"Sounds… interesting, but why would my memory problems make you think of that?"

"Well, I know it's fiction, but until a few days ago people from other universes coming to this world was fiction too…" Shirou shakes his head. "Er, anyway… I was thinking of bouncing around in time, could scramble a guy's brain, maybe being shoved from one universe to another could do something similar…?"

Taiasu's eyes widen and his mouth hangs slightly. "That… doesn't sound that far-fetched…" His mouth slips closed, and he stares at the floor again, holding his head between his hands. "It doesn't help much, but it is nice to have some idea…"

The sound of Tohsaka's flats echo softly through the dojo as she takes a few brisk steps in. "Got the room all set. Taiasu, can you grab that for me, please?" She points at the chest.

He nods and stands up, stretching his arms and then leaning backward, stretching his back. "Alright, stupid chest… Round two."

Saber stands up as well. "Shirou, could you please show me to my room as well? There are some other things I would like to discuss with you."

He stands and nods as well. "We'll get the door and the lights on our way… out…?"

His voice trails off as he glances down and watches Taiasu heft the chest over his head, disappearing under it and giving the illusion of a chest with legs, forcing him to choke back a surprised laugh. The ambulatory chest trots its way out of the dojo behind Tohsaka.

* * *

"Right there is fine," Tohsaka points to a spot with her foot, and Taiasu lets the chest down with another gentle thump and then takes a glance around.

"Hey this is where I woke up, right?"

She nods. "I just made it more my space."

The red tote she'd carried her things with is on the floor near the head of the bed. The desk with the clock has a couple mortar and pestle sets, a few vials with fluids of varying colors standing in a rack, some opaque colored bottles, and several books, most of which have various tags coming off of the pages, and the small blue pearl he'd given her earlier that day. The wall behind the desk has some papers affixed to it, both covered in various notes, and several more books sit on the floor in a stack, also with several tags sticking to various pages. The chest sits beside the wall next to the desk, and the two bladed chakram rest on the floor at the foot of the bed.

"It's rude to stare so much," Tohsaka says after a few minutes of his staring around.

"Oh, sorry… It's just really different."

"It's fine, just try to pay more attention. Let's get the rest of those crystals out and into this chest." She pops it open and then looks down at him. "Just be careful not to drop it in. I don't want to have to deal with that."

He nods, and slides the chair from the desk over to the chest, climbs into it, stands on the seat, and inverts his pack over the chest and watches as an impossible number of lightless crystals pour into the chest. Despite being filled with over two thousand exhausted crystals by the time the last one drops into the chest, not a single one falls outside.

"Jeez… That's so weird…" he says, rubbing his forehead.

"Hold off on the smaller ones. I want to keep those for myself," she says as she glances down into the chest. "Huh…?" A piece of paper in the chest catches her eye, and she reaches down and takes it up to examine it.

Taiasu hops down from the chair. "What's that?"

"A receipt. Seems Kischur made good on what he said… There'll be enough here to more than pay for that TV you broke, and whatever else we need."

She folds the paper and leaves it on the desk before glancing down. Her head tilts on seeing his expression; him staring hard at the floor with a soft frown.

"What's wrong?"

He shakes his head. "Just… I still don't feel good about taking that from you."

"Why are you so hung up on that? I said it's fine, right?"

His hands clench tightly for a second and his frown deepens. "I don't… I don't know, okay? It just feels wrong to me. I gave those to you, so they're yours, right? It doesn't feel right… I just like things to be… equal. I didn't do anything for those to be mine now, and I gave them to you because you could use them, and I owed you…"

She smiles and nods. "You're right. You did give them to me. That makes them mine, right?"

He looks up at her and nods. "Yeah, so then—"

"If they're mine, that means I can do what I want with them, right?"

"Ah… Yeah, but—"

She leans down and tweaks his nose, causing him to stumble back a step. "I'm giving some of that to you because I want to. So let me do what I want with my stuff, alright?"

"Gh…" He turns his head and frowns before letting out a sigh. His mouth turns up in a soft smile and he nods. "Fine… I get it. Sorry for being weird."

She laughs. "If you apologized for every time you were weird, it's all you'd ever say."

"Hey, that's kind of rude…" His words suggest annoyance, but he plays it off with a smirk.

* * *

"Here. This is my room." Shirou slides the door to his sparsely furnished room open.

Saber glances around and her eyes grow wide. "This…? This is your room?"

He leans his head. "Yeah…? I mean, there shouldn't be anything here too surprising, right?"

Her mouth drops slightly. "No, but that is only because there is nothing here. This is really your room?"

"Well… Yeah. I mean, all I do is sleep here, so there wouldn't be a need for anything else, right?"

"I suppose… I was expecting more here, so to see so little was surprising…" She sees herself in and softly places her hand on the wall to the room, checking the feel of it. "That is a relief. This room has little, but it has been treated well. The feeling I get from it is a calming warmth."

Shirou shrugs. "I guess? It must be how the house is built since it's cool during the summer and warm during the winter. My father always said I took the best room."

Saber smiles softly. "Yes, the room tends to reflect its owner. I was concerned when I saw it, but it seems my concern was unwarranted."

"Okay…?"

_Weird…_

"So what was it you wanted to talk with me about?"

"A few things. Before that, I would ask you keep these in confidence."

"You want me to keep them a secret?" Shirou sits on the barren floor, crossing his legs. "I mean, I'm okay with it, I guess. So what is it? Is it a good thing or a bad thing?"

She sits across from him in her usual way and her expression becomes serious. "The first few are bad. At the very least, I do not want the other Masters finding out about them."

He nods. "Okay… I'll listen, so please go ahead."

She stares at him sharply and begins to speak in a serious tone. "In the first instance, I must ask for your understanding in that I am unable to accomplish a Servant's first obligation."

"… Okay? Can you explain?"

She nods. "I cannot disclose to you my identity. You heard from Rin? About how we have to keep such things secret?"

"Your identity?" He leans his head toward his shoulder for a moment before it springs back. "Oh… you mean your name… I mean, It's not a big deal for me, but can I ask why?"

Her tense expression relaxes slightly, and she gives a small sigh. "I believe it is our best approach. Whatever you may try to do to hide that knowledge, there are many ways for it to be taken from you. Lacking as you are in magical resistances, someone could simply reach into your mind and take it, for one." She wears a small, sad frown. "It would be best if the information was not there for them to take."

"Ah… I see," he says, sighing. "So like a wallet with no money, they can dig around, but all they'll find is useless things. That's probably a good idea."

"I am relieved you agree," she says. Her expression turns sad for a second. "Though I am not someone so well renowned. Likely, I am a less well known than Berserker, if he is who Rin believes him to be. Having my identity revealed would likely not be a significant problem."

"Are you sure?" Shirou asks. "I mean, he's big, but you could stand against him even after he sent you flying, and that was after that weird jerk in the cloak did whatever it was. You shouldn't count that fight, if you're comparing yourself to him."

Saber's expression relaxes again. "That is true. If that man had not interfered, the battle would likely have been more even."

Shirou nods with a slight yawn. "Sorry… still a bit tired, I guess. So that's the first issue. What else did you want to ask me about?"

Her expression becomes slightly sad and uncomfortable. "That is… I am concerned about my presence being a source of discomfort for you."

"Huh…? Discomfort?"

She nods. "You seemed quite adamant during our discussion about my living arrangements. And what Rin said seemed to be a source of great agitation for you."

"What Tohsaka—"

 _She means_ that…

He palms his face as it turns a few shades of red. "Damn her…"

She turns her stare directly to his eyes, and his face heats up even further.

"Is it truly such a problem for us to share a room?"

"Kh… Saber…"

_Damn it, I can't even look at her like this…_

His gaze hits the floor like a stone. "Okay, stupid… just breathe… You're a man, so say it like a man…"

"Shirou?" He looks up to see her head leaning slightly.

"Ah, sorry… Just… trying to calm myself down." He takes in a deep breath and lets it out slowly. "The problem is that you're too p… I mean, you're really beau… Kh… Damn it…" He grinds his temples with his knuckles. "It's because you're too beautiful, okay?!" he finally blurts out as his face red-shifts so hard it suggests space is being bent. "I couldn't sleep if you were in the same room!"

Her face turns a few subtle shades of red. "It is… for that reason?"

He nods silently, burying his face in his hands as steam pours off of it. "I'm a guy, so I think about that sort of thing a lot… and I couldn't keep a level head if I had to share a room with someone like you like that."

"So you are saying… you would not desire such a thing to happen between us?" Saber's voice carries a note of sadness, and Shirou's hands drop as his eyes grow huge.

His hands drop, and he observes her sincere expression. "Wh-what are you even saying? There's a proper order to things, and we haven't even come to the starting line to be having that sort of discussion!"

Saber shakes her head softly. "That is untrue, Shirou. Sexual relations between a Master and a Servant can serve a very practical function."

His face shatters from the force and bluntness of her words as his brain scrambles to figure out how to process the words his ears are conveying to it. The only response he can flatly deliver is a simple, single syllable four-letter word.

"… What."

"You do not know?" The redness in her face subsides slightly. "The sexual emissions from a male magus contain an amount of magical energy sufficient to empower a Servant, should they receive it."

"… What?" He shakes his head violently. "No, no way. Tohsaka's putting weird thoughts into your head…" He launches himself to his feet. "We need to clear this up right now. Come on, Saber." He grabs her hand and storms out of the room.

_It's not like I don't think about that stuff, but there's a proper order, and that woman is trying to make this weird. I'll have her clear this up._

"Wait, Shirou…!" Saber protests briefly as he pulls her along behind him.

* * *

"Hey, that's kind of rude."

Taiasu's muffled voice comes from behind the door in front of which Shirou stands with an uncomfortable, fidgeting Saber standing behind him. He bangs on the door twice, hard. "Tohsaka, open up!"

"Huh? Shirou?" The door opens and Tohsaka stands behind it. He pushes past her, dragging Saber alongside him.

"What is this nonsense you've…?" In the middle of his complaint, he stares around the room and his voice trails.

_What did she…? She just made herself right at home—oh, forget it. This is more important!_

"What nonsense have you been putting into Saber's head!?"

Not quite yelling, but definitely louder than a casually conversational tone.

Tohsaka leans her head a bit. "What are you talking about?"

"Shirou, please…" Saber protests again, but he proceeds forward with his accusations undeterred.

"She's telling me weird things like if we… I mean, something about a magus…"

_Damn it!_

He clenches his jaw and grinds his teeth. "She's saying if we have sex, she'll get stronger!"

Taiasu's head slams into the ground as he falls back out of his chair. Tohsaka's eyes widen and her mouth drops a bit, and Saber turns several more shades of red.

"What is this crap you've been telling her? I know you told her something in the dojo, so what is this garbage Even practical jokes have to have a limit—"

Tohsaka tilts her head slightly. “Huh? I didn’t tell her anything like that.”

“You did! I know you did. What else would you have been saying to her!?”

She watches him with her practiced, composed smile on her face. “Just why you didn’t want to share the same room, right?”

“B-but then why would she be saying something like—”

“Because it’s true.” Tohsaka says, her eyes returning to normal. “You didn’t know?”

"Wh-wh-wh-what?!" He glares at her, but she returns his stare unperturbed and nods.

"Oh. I see…" She smirks and her eyes narrow playfully.

_Oh, this is going to be a lot of fun._

"No, I imagine you wouldn't know…" She glances down at Taiasu as well, whose expression is a homogeneous mixture of discomfort, curiosity, and embarrassment, and her smirk becomes a full-on grin for a moment before she adopts her standard lecturer's stance.

"Transference of magical energy by sex is a common practice. Semen produced by magus contains a reasonable quantity of magical energy. Even poor magus use it as a means of living by selling it to the Mage's Association."

"Bluh…" Taiasu's face goes pale. "Ghu… that's… awful."

She grins down at Taiasu. "Oh, sorry. I forgot you were a prude."

He glares at her. "I'm NOT!" he yells as he stomps his bare foot on the wood floor.

Shirou's grip on Saber's arm relaxes slightly as his entire expression falls like a house of cards. "W-wait… Tohsaka… You're joking, right? You're not serious!"

"Of course I'm serious. I wouldn't joke about something like this," she says, tossing her hair back. "If you'd been properly trained as a magus, you'd understand."

"Kh… gh… damn it… I… you…" He manages little more than inarticulate utterances as his face returns to space-bending levels of redness.

Tohsaka smirks again. "Honestly, I thought this was something even the novices among the novices knew." Her satisfied smirk dip. "Though it shouldn't be necessary for Saber. She's plenty strong enough as it is, even without whatever she might gain from you two having sex."

"T-T-Tohsaka!" He drops Saber's hand and buries his face behind both of his.

"Wait, Shirou… Do you not want to have sex with Saber?"

His jaw hits the floor while he still stands upright.

"I-I never said—"

"So you do?" She grins. "Then what's the problem?"

His mouth flaps a few times and inarticulate gurgling noises are all he's able to produce.

"Rin, please stop." Saber says plaintively. "It is not fair to him for you to exploit his lack of knowledge in such a way."

"Hm…" Tohsaka's grin cools off a bit. "Well, it's like I said, it shouldn't be necessary. Though it could be good to keep in mind if she has to use her Noble Phantasm."

She sighs and shakes her head. "Honestly, it would probably be better if you guys just did it so you could be more comfortable around each other."

Shirou's psyche finally shatters like brittle porcelain. "Saber… let me show you where you'll be sleeping tonight…" he says in a flat monotone as he mechanically turns around and starts walking toward his room.

_Evil… evil… woman…_

Saber's head hangs as she turns to follow his defeated, shuffling footsteps.

Still grinning, Tohsaka shrugs and turns around, then glancing down at Taiasu, who she half-expects to be rocking in the fetal position. Rather than that, his expression is completely blank, though his face is still quite red.

“That was pretty mean…” he mumbles.

She shrugs. “You too? Nothing I said was a lie. I think it could be good for them if they did it. At least, it would help their chances in this war…” She bites her lower lip after a second of contemplation. “Though if they did, it would probably hurt my chances… Maybe I said too much?”


	35. Heart's Desire

Shirou sloughs into his barren bedroom and points to the closed door to his left.

“Will that work for you?” he mumbles to Saber, who stands behind him, regarding him with some measure of concern. “It should be close enough to my room, right?” he mutters as he takes a few steps forward and slumps to the ground, pressing his head between his hands.

_Seriously, what is Tohsaka thinking? Now_ I’ve _got all these weird thoughts in_ MY _head! It’s not like I don’t think about that stuff, but… S-s-sex with Saber? I mean, we’ve known each other for like a day!_

He rolls over on his back and presses his face into his hands as he smacks the back of his head against the floor several times.

“Shirou?”

_Regardless of what that evil woman says… I mean, sure Saber is beautiful, and it’s not like I’m_ NOT _attracted to her, but there has to be more than that! I’m not just some… lousy guy who goes around screwing women because they’re pretty! If I was like that, I’d have tried to make a move on Sakura already. And my feelings for Sakura run far deeper than this, anyway—gah! What the hell am I even thinking!! I can’t be thinking like that!!!_

“Shirou…?”

He disregards Saber’s soft voice as he rolls over and bangs his forehead into the floor a few times, hard enough for the sound to echo in his small room.

_Damn it, damn it, DAMN IT!!!_

“Stupid… miserable… wretched evil woman…” he grumbles into the floor before smacking his head into it one last time. “Ow! DAMN IT!”

He bolts up, rubbing the forming red spot on his forehead.

“Shirou…?”

“Huh?” He turns around and then stumbles back, smacking the back of his head against the small desk in his room, and clamps his teeth on his tongue to bite back another swear.

Saber sits at eye level, and close enough for him to see himself reflecting in her beautiful green eyes before he had stumbled backward.

“S-S-Saber! Y-you’re still here?”

_Wait… Did she just watch me having my whole melt-down?_

He shakes his head so hard his neck pops audibly, and roughs his entire face with his hands.

_Come on, stupid! Get it together!_

He takes in a huge breath and hisses as he lets it out slowly, grinding his teeth and mashing his face between his hands for a few seconds more before letting them drop.

She nods and scoots forward slightly, forcing him to scoot back, only to find the desk and the wall behind him barring his retreat.

“Is something the matter? You seem upset.”

“U-upset…?” He takes in another deep breath, and it escapes like air hissing from a punctured tire. “Yeah, a lot is wrong. Everything that woman said is wrong. Every word! She’s talking like s-s-sex is just some tool to win a battle! Are you really okay with that!?” He finally forces himself to stare into her eyes as he asks the question. “Because I’m not!”

She glances away for a moment, chewing her lower lip for just a second. As Shirou watches her discomfort, he can’t help but notice.

_Wait… that’s the first time she’s reacted like this to… anything._

He shakes his head and claps his face between his hands.

_What am I, stupid? How can I even say or think something like that? We’ve only been around each other for a few hours! Of course there’s going to be a lot of things I’ve never seen her do…_

After a few seconds of quiet contemplation, she looks back up at him and shakes her head. “It is my understanding that such things in this time are reserved for people who have at least some affection toward one another.” She speaks almost mechanically. “For that reason, I can understand your discomfort at the suggestion that Rin has made.”

“Then you agree, right? There’s no way—”

She holds her finger up. “But we cannot afford to squander such an advantage. If it would provide us with a chance to win the Holy Grail, it is not something I would dismiss.”

Shirou’s eyes gape and his jaw drops. “S-Saber… You’d… just for that reason…?”

She keeps her gaze anchored onto his and offers only a firm nod.

“B-but… Wait…” His head burns like a furnace as a million thoughts rage through his mind. One in particular screams louder than the rest.

_Wait… She said it’s her second time… How many times has she been… Has she…?_

He takes in a massive swallow of air and groans inwardly, fighting his desire to ask that which threatens to consume him. A brief, internal struggle which is lost in short order.

“Saber. You said this was your second time in this era?”

She nods. “Yes. I was summoned before, during the last conflict.”

“And you just said… that you’d do something like this to win the Holy Grail?”

She nods again.

“Then… Saber… did you.. The last time, did you… with your Master the last time?”

With a decisive, firm motion, she shakes her head. “It was unnecessary for us during the last conflict.”

Shirou’s eyes drift closed as he deflates like a balloon as he allows his held breath to escape from his body in a hugely relieved sigh, and much of his tension melts away at her words.

_So she didn’t… That’s a relief. Wait…_

His eyes snap open.

_Why am I so relieved to hear that…?_

His gaze drift upward toward her eyes again, and he can feel himself being drawn in. Her eyes, her soft, golden hair, her fine, delicate features…

“No way… I mean… It can’t be…” Unconsciously, he articulates his desperate thoughts in a low mumble. “That’s stupid… I mean, she’s just beautiful, and I’m fascinated by her is all…”

“Shirou?” Saber’s head leans slightly at his words. “What is fascinating?”

“Huh? What now?” Shirou takes in and lets out another deep breath and his heart, which had been beating against his chest like it was trying to execute a warrant, finally returns to a normal rate.

“You were saying you found something fascinating?”

He rubs the back of his head. “I.. was?”

She nods, and his face grows heated again.

_D-damn it! I said that stuff out loud!?_

“Uh, just this whole thing. I didn’t know the stuff Tohsaka was saying before is all. It’s weird and kind of gross, but it’s also a bit fascinating is all I was saying.” He smirks awkwardly, and he grinds his hand into the back of his head as he lies through his tightly clenched teeth.

_I mean, I couldn’t possibly be in love with her, right? It’s way too soon for that sort of thing… And there’s still Sakura… and Tohsaka too, despite her ridiculousness. I can’t really be this lame and indecisive…_

He swallows hard against the lump forming in his throat.

_Can I?_

* * *

Taiasu finally recovers his composure after hearing about the details of male magi and how they can harvest their own magical essence for profit, and makes his way toward the door leading from Tohsaka’s room, stepping around the small pile of books as he does. Tohsaka relaxes on her bed, having also finally settled down after collapsing into a fit of near-hysterical laughter once Shirou was out of earshot. She watches the back of his head as he makes his way into the hall.

“Where do you think you’re going?” she asks. “I have to keep an eye on you, so don’t wander too far, alright?”

He turns toward her and nods. “I’m just going to see about where I can stay. Unless he’s going to make me sleep in the yard like a pet…?” His eyebrow arches slightly. “Wait, why do you have to keep an eye on me?”

She sighs and slumps forward. “Because this town and the one across the bridge… I’m responsible for making sure nothing bad happens in them.”

He leans his head slightly forward, staring at the floor. “I thought that was what that other guy was for? That person you said was a fake priest?”

She shakes her head. “He’s just here to make sure the Holy Grail War doesn’t get out of hand. Once that’s over, he’s gone. And if you’re still here, then that makes you my responsibility…?”

_Wait, what? I’m… responsible for this little guy?_

She smirks and laughs softly. “That’s ridiculous…”

He glances up at her. “Huh?”

“No, nothing. Just… realizing the ridiculousness everything.”

He shrugs and turns toward the door, walking into the hall and beginning his search for his new benefactor.

A loud thumping sound reaches his ears as he wanders the labyrinthian halls of the Emiya residence, and he follows it as best he can. It stops for a moment as he reaches the hall next to the living area.

_Jeez, this place is a maze… Rin… er, Tohsaka’s room is back there…_

He glances back and nods.

_And then this is where the kitchen is, and the living room…_

He glances to his right and sighs.

_Only two ways to go… I guess I’ll try this way._

He turns to his left and follows the hall forward until it turns right.

_Right, so that’s the hall to the yard. There’s the yard and the dojo… No, this was wrong._

He frowns and spins on his feet to backtrack as another series of loud thumps reaches his ears, followed by one last one and a muffled shout.

_What is that…?_

Taiasu walks the hall and then turns toward the hall leading to the living room, and through the hall to another small annexed building. As he makes his way into it, low voices continue to echo through the halls and reach his ears. He follows the hall in the annex, which leads in only one direction before stopping as a soft light casts from an open doorway.

“… a bit fascinating is all I was saying.” Shirou’s voice, laden with discomfort, carries the small distance from the door to Taiasu’s ears.

_Ah, that must be his room then._

He trots toward the door and pokes his head in.

“Excuse me, sorry, but the door was open. I was wondering—!”

He glances in and sees Saber and Shirou sitting and facing each other, with less than a meter’s distance separating them.

_Uh… uh oh… I think… Maybe they were about to…?_

“S-sorry for interrupting…” he mumbles, turning red and pulling his head back.

Shirou looks toward the door, then to Saber, then realizes the reduced space between him and her, and groans as he mashes his face with his hand again.

“A-anyway, Saber, please check that room and make sure it’s good enough for you. I need to go clear something up, I think!” He springs up and points to his right at the closed door before sprinting toward the doorway of his bedroom.

_Still, I should thank the little guy. He came at just the right time. Maybe he really is a godsend…?_

* * *

“Oh, so that’s all?” Taiasu sighs. “I feel better. I was afraid I might have been a few seconds away from seeing something I shouldn’t have…”

Shirou walks him toward one of the vacant guest rooms. “Why would you think that?”

“Well, with everything Tohsaka was saying, I just thought… I mean…” He stares at the floor. “Why… why wouldn’t you?”

“Hah?” Shirou stops and stares down at him. “What are you even saying? Aren’t you a little young to be talking like that?”

Taiasu shakes his head. “I’m an adult. I just look like this. We all do.”

“Oh, really?” Shirou smirks. “So there’s a bunch of child-like people with super-powers running around on your world?”

Taiasu nods plainly, and the boy’s smirk drops.

“Wait, really?”

He nods again. “Not every Lalafell becomes an adventurer, but when we do, well… You’ve seen it.”

Shirou’s mouth slacks for a second. “No… no way.”

He tries to picture it in his mind. An army of knee-high Taiasu clones charging a two-story dragon. The image which his brain conjures forces a restrained laugh.

“But yeah. I was thirteen when the Calamity hit… It was what made me want to become an adventurer… Everyone was suffering.” His voice drops a bit as he stares at the floor. “Five years later, I finally had my chance.”

“Thirteen…? Then you’re eighteen now?”

Taiasu shakes his head. “No, but I will be soon… Twentieth sun of the Third Astral Moon.”

Shirou stares at him. “Twentieth… what, now?”

He sighs and frowns. “You guys use another method for tracking time here, don’t you…”

“I guess… so?”

He folds his arms and looks at the floor. “So a cycle on Hydaelyn is composed of twelve moons, alternating between an Astral moon and an Umbral moon.”

“Sounds like months…” Shirou says, nodding.

“And each moon consists of thirty two suns. A sun consists of four sets of six elemental cycles. Each cycle lasts for—”

Shirou’s face goes blank for a moment as Taiasu explains the most fundamental units of time on Hydaelyn.

“—and so my nameday falls on the twentieth sun of the fifth astral moon.”

The boy snaps back to reality as he finishes.

_I think I get it… sounds similar enough to our days, months and years, except for the whole elemental cycles he was talking about. That’s really different._

Shirou folds his arms and shuts his eyes for a moment.

_So if they alternate between Astral and Umbral… then the third Astral would be the fifth month for us, and that would mean…_

“So for us… It would be the fifth month of our year, on the twentieth day if I’m getting it right… Except…” He frowns. “Our months aren’t uniform like it sounds yours are.”

Taiasu looks up at him. “Why would that be? Sounds more complicated than it needs to be.”

“Pft-hahaha!”

_He’s calling our system complicated?_

Taiasu glares at him for a moment, and he waves his hands.

“Sorry, it was just funny to hear you say that. So I guess the best comparison would be that for us, a day would be a sun, a month would be a moon, and a year would be a cycle… Though…”

His head leans to one side as he does some quick calculations. “Thirty two… three hundred and twenty… three hundred and eighty for days? Wow…”

“Wow?” Taiasu’s hard stare relaxes a bit. “What’s wow?”

“No, it’s just… your years are almost a full month longer than ours. You said you’re seventeen…?”

Taiasu nods. “I’ve had seventeen nameday anniversaries, yes.”

“So birthdays, then… That’s… Hmm…” He stares at the floor and shuts his eyes for a second.

“So ten… that would be three thousand eight hundred and forty… so if it were twenty it would be… seven thousand seven hundred less twenty… So seven thousand six hundred and eighty…”

He sighs as he moves the numbers around in his head. “Less twelve hundred for the three years less than twenty would be… six thousand four hundred and eighty… plus forty-eight because… so six thousand five hundred and twenty-eight days…”

Taiasu’s face goes hard-blank as Shirou perform the reasonably simple math that to him is effectively advanced aetherology.

“Six thousand five hundred and twenty-eight days… Three hundred sixty-five, so… hmm…” His brow furrows a bit and his eyes move rapidly beneath his closed eyelids. “Three thousand six hundred fifty… forget leap years… So Six thousand five hundred and twenty-eight less three thousand six hundred and fifty would be…” He rubs his forehead. “Three thousand five hundred twenty-eight less six hundred fifty… Five hundred twenty-eight less six fifty…”

Taiasu stares as his mouth hangs loose while Shirou works on his self-imposed math problem.

“Five thirty less six fifty would be negative one twenty, plus two would be negative one eighteen… so three thousand less one hundred would be two thousand nine hundred… less twenty plus two would be two thousand eight hundred eighty-two… So ten years, two thousand eight hundred eighty-two days—”

Shirou takes another few minutes running the numbers and his eyes snap open with a sigh as he frowns. “Hm… You’re just a few months away from eighteen here, too. I thought it would have been different. Older or younger… but not so close to the same.”

“Huh?” Taiasu leans his head slightly. “That’s what you were trying to figure out?”

Shirou nods. “Yeah… I was just curious…”

Taiasu chuckles softly. “That’s funny. I wouldn’t have tried that hard. There’s a reason I became an adventurer and not an accountant… I’d have torn my hair out…” He grins, rubbing his head-fuzz. “That alone would have been an accomplishment.”

The boy laughs for a moment, then leans his head forward and stares at the floor. “Wait, how did we even get on the subject of your age, anyway?”

“I was telling you I was an adult because you were saying I was too young to be talking about what I thought you and Saber were about to be doing,” he says flatly.

“Oh, right… A-anyway, you were saying why wouldn’t I?”

Taiasu nods again. “Yeah… I mean… I don’t know how things are here. Pretty peaceful, I’d imagine considering I haven’t seen any roving hordes of rampaging fiends, but it’s not so simple on Hydaelyn…” He frowns and casts a sad stare at the floor. “Tomorrow’s never promised… I’ve lost a lot of friends, and known people who’ve lost people they cared for too… So when some chance like you have strikes, you have to take it, right?”

He smiles sadly and looks up at Shirou, whose mouth drops a bit.

“T-Taiasu… I mean…” He sighs and smiles softly. “It’s not that straight forward here. We don’t just… do that sort of thing.”

“That’s what I’m saying! Why wouldn’t you?”

“B-because… you have to feel a certain way about a person. I mean, that’s how it usually is.”

“I know that!” he says with a hard frown. “It’s that way on Hydaelyn too! That’s why I’m saying I don’t get it!”

Shirou’s eyes widen and he shakes his head. “What…? Sorry, little man. You lost me.”

Taiasu sighs. “What I’m saying is that it’s obvious. I mean… you clearly have feelings for her, right?”

Shirou chokes. “T-Taiasu, what—”

“Otherwise you wouldn’t have gotten so upset about what Tohsaka was saying. If you felt nothing, it would have been a simple thing to just let her words wash over you, right?”

The boy’s face blanks.

_What is he… saying?_

“And Saber has to feel at least some way about you, right? Otherwise she never would have even brought it up!” His gaze hits the floor. “She’d have just said nothing and let it be, but she brought it up for a reason! I mean… I don’t know what she’s thinking because I can’t read her mind, but… She wasn’t disgusted by the idea, was she?”

Shirou’s mind cracks.

_W-what…? No… I mean, it didn’t seem… but… what…?_

“Why… do you care so much about this…?” Shirou mutters.

“Well… I mean…” Taiasu scuffs his foot. “I like it when people are happy… and I’ve never had that chance at happiness… I mean, I did… but—!”

_Wait, damn it…! How can I say that! What’s wrong with me, there’s…! Why does it always feel wrong every time I think about it, damn it! Why doesn’t it feel real!?_

He grumbles and shakes his head angrily. “Damn it… I keep forgetting that… Every time. Sorry, let me rephrase—until recently, I wasn’t aware that I’d had that chance. I wouldn’t want to see someone waste it is all…”

Shirou’s brow arches upward. “Waste a chance… to have sex?”

Taiasu shakes his head again. “No, stupid! To be in love!!”

“Ah…” Shirou’s expression drops like a stone as Taiasu’s words echo softly through the hallway lit by the noonday sun.

“I mean, there’s that girl I saw my first morning here, she clearly…” He clamps his mouth shut for a second before going on. “And I don’t know what Tohsaka feels towards you, but she did save your life so she at least doesn’t hate you, and then you have Saber too!” He stares upward at the boy, whose mouth flaps like a fish. “You have so much low-hanging fruit around you, how could you not see it!”

“Wait… Taiasu… What…?”

_She saved… my life…? When —_

His mind snaps back to the hallway the night before, when he’d first met the man standing below him now, chiding his indecisiveness. The man he thought was some odd child dressed in ninja cosplay. His hand moves up toward his chest where Lancer had pierced him not even a day ago now.

_That’s why…? That’s why I didn’t…?_

He reaches into his pocket and grasps the jeweled pendant he’d picked up before he’d poked the sleeping child awake, pulling it out, holding it up and staring at it.

“This jeweled pendant was… This is hers…?”

Taiasu shakes his head. “I don’t know. I was… in a bad way after I found you, but she told me she saved you because…” He grinds his teeth. “Damn it, you’d have to ask her about it. I can’t tell you because it’s not my place!”

He sighs and stares a hole in the floor again. “Just… you have to make a choice, you know? You don’t get this kind of chance every day…”

Shirou stares at the jeweled pendant as his mind swims with the small man’s words.

_Choose…? I have to choose?_

“Choose… what?”

Taiasu rubs his head. “Well? I mean, you have three choices, right?”

Shirou swallows hard against the lump forming in his throat.

_Wait… what is this… Did my life just turn into a dating sim? Is this guy some kind of stupid fairy?_

“Well… I mean, it’s obvious… There’s the three of them, so there’s only one to choose…”

Taiasu’s eyes widen and he stares up at Shirou. “No, that’s not what I meant…”

Shirou stares back down at him, his heart hammering from the talk of his prospective future love life. “I don’t understand… What other choices could there be?”

The small man folds his arms. “Well, you can choose none of them, or one of them… or all of them, right?”

He says something so absurd that Shirou has a hard time not putting his head through his wooden floor. Less the words, and more the matter-of-fact tone with which he delivers then is what causes him to nearly raise his home-owners insurance premiums.

“T-Taiasu… all of them…? Come on… things don’t work like that here…” He chokes back a nervous, incredulous laugh.

“Why not?” Taiasu asks his question with a practiced, almost child-like innocence.

Shirou mashes his head between his hands. “B-because… They just… DON’T! I mean, there are laws about that sort of thing, and even if there weren’t there’s the whole ethical issue! I mean—”

“Laws are dumb. They change all the time. It was never a problem on Hydaelyn. I’ve seen plenty of unfit people with… well… They’re unfit, so you can only imagine.” Taiasu says, frowning. “And what ethical issues?”

Shirou’s mouth flaps silently a few more times as he looks hard at the floor, trying to voice his counter-argument. “Just… I mean… If I choose more than one, someone’s going to have hurt feelings, right?”

Taiasu shakes his head. “Why would someone have hurt feelings?”

“Well… I mean, I’d have to hide it, right?”

_This is so stupid! Why am I continuing this —_

“Why would you have to hide it?”

Shirou’s jaw drops. “B-because if they found out, they’d probably take turns killing me!! And also, I wouldn’t be seeing someone behind someone else’s back, anyway! That’s something only a scummy piece of garbage would do! Why do I have to explain that to you!!?” His hands clench tightly at his sides and he pants heavily as his frustration builds.

“Yeah, they would. If you tried hiding it, right?” Taiasu says, casually digging into his ear. He glances down at the wax on his glove and flicks it aside. “So why would you?”

“Kh… what other… choice is there!?”

“Tell them about it, right?”

Shirou can offer no reply as his brain blue-screens.

“I mean, if you’re up front with all of them about it from the start, there’s nothing to hide, right?”

His brain finally reboots, and the boy’s mind plays out the conversation. Him sitting with all three of them. His junior, Sakura, the school idol, Tohsaka, and his super-powered Servant, Saber.

_How would that work? What the hell would I even say? ‘I’d like to date all three of you at the same time’? They’d kill me so fast I’d never hear their answer! Them killing me_ WOULD _be their answer!! This is ridiculous!!_

He shakes the image of himself being torn to shreds by three angry women from his mind.

“WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!!!” he yells, then his hands snap up and cover his mouth. He lets them drop as his face grows more and more red. “I thought your world and mine might be similar, but if it produces people like you, I can’t even…!”

Taiasu frowns sadly, shaking his head. “Nothing is… wrong with me… but if you chose none of them, or just one of them… someone is going to have hurt feelings…”

His tone is pure, innocent and sincere, and forces Shirou’s complexion to return to normal.

_He’s… serious? This isn’t some stupid game or a joke to him? What? Why? What sort of world…? Why does he…? Why is he…? What even is this?_

“I don’t… like it when people are sad, is all… I felt bad for that girl when her brother was trying to steal that feather… and I felt bad for Rin, er, Tohsaka… when… I can’t say… And then when I see you, and how you could make everyone happy… it just… and if you stand by and do nothing, it makes me… just… so…!” He plops down, and clenches his hands tightly before rubbing his face. “Everyone… should get to be happy. I don’t want people to be sad, or have hurt feelings. That’s why I’m always trying to help people… It’s why I’m saying things you’re saying are ridiculous, right?”

Shirou falls backward into the nearby wall and slides down it, palming his face.

_This guy is unbelievable… How is he able to say things like that with such a straight face… and make me believe it…! Am I…_

He looks to his side at the small man, who stares hard at the ground with a grieved expression.

_Am I actually…_

He stares forward as improper images flash through his mind, and he tries to shake them away.

_It’s not like he’s… I mean… I know how I feel about… All three… but…_

He smiles and chuckles softly. “There’s no way it’d work, even if I was stupid and insane enough to try.”

Taiasu looks over at him. “What makes you say that?”

“They’d all have to agree to it, right? I mean, there’s no way they’d all agree to it. It’d be suicidal to even try it.”

The small man shakes his head softly. “I don’t know. Some pretty terrible people on my world seem to do okay.”

Shirou laughs again. “Yeah, and I bet they have something like all the money and power, so of course women would be willing to share for that sort of thing.”

“Sure, shallow women…” Taiasu says, looking forward and pulling his knees to his chest. “But S-S… Sakura… and Saber, and Tohsaka aren’t like that…”

“No…” Shirou says, shaking his head and smiling softly. “They definitely aren’t.”

“And you have something that those terrible people in my world who get all the money, power, and women don’t have,” Taiasu says, leaning forward into his legs with his own soft, warm smile.

“If you say something cliché like I have you, I’m kicking you outside to sleep in the cold,” Shirou mutters.

“What? No, that’s stupid,” Taiasu shakes his head and chuckles. “You already have a measure of their affection. Those guys in my world have to buy a counterfeit form of love, but you already have something that draws those girls to you, right?”

Shirou shakes his head and sighs. “I can’t believe I’ve even had this conversation. There’s still no way they’d agree, regardless of how they felt for me.”

“I think you’re devaluing yourself, Shirou,” Taiasu says, frowning softly. “I mean, if they like you, and they’re friends with each other, wouldn’t they… you know? Wouldn’t they want to be happy too? I mean, wouldn’t they also want their friends to be happy? If they could all be happy together with you…”

Taiasu heaves a tremendous sigh. “Why wouldn’t they want to at least try? That sounds lovely to me…”

* * *

The blue pearl falls from Tohsaka’s hand and clatters to the floor as she falls backward onto her bed. She’d picked it up at the tail-end of their discussion about Taiasu’s age and then been privy to possibly the most surreal conversation of her life.

_That little man… He’s so… freaking…_

She rolls over and grabs the pillow on her bed, squeezing it to her chest.

_ADORABLE!!! OH MY GOD!! I WANT TO TAKE HIM HOME WITH ME!!!_

She kicks against the air as she squees in delight at the discovery of his deeper thoughts and desires. It had taken some effort to keep her mind quiet, and she’d been forced to set the pearl down a few times when her thoughts threatened to overwhelm her, but she’d been able to get the gist of the conversation.

_Is that little idiot actually planning to try and build Shirou a harem? Oh my GOD!!!_

She buries her face into the pillow to muffle her delighted screams. The pillow slips downward, and she sighs before burying her face into it again.

_And he was so… PURE about it! There wasn’t even a hint of maliciousness or… or… lewd intent, or… ANYTHING!! HOW DOES A PERSON LIKE THAT EVEN EXIST!?_

She plops the pillow down on the bed and lays face-down, burying her face into the soft, fluffy cushion.

_But what am I going to do… Shirou knows about the jewel, and how I saved him… And what about Sakura… If he agrees to go along with that little twerps… ridiculous sense of idealism… and ends up hurting her, I’ll… I’ll…_

Her inner tone shifts quickly as she bites the pillow her face is buried in and clenches it between both hands.

_Another world wouldn’t be far enough away for him to hide from the wrath of Rin Tohsaka…? Wait… Shirou knows about the jewel…? How?_

Rin reaches underneath the collar of her shirt, careful not to disturb the Soul Dancer’s stone, which remains safely tucked as she pulls out the jeweled pendant Archer had returned to her when he had returned from trying to catch Lancer’s master the night before.

“Archer returned it to me… Shirou shouldn’t even know about it…” Her tails twirl as she shakes her head before laying on her back and staring at the ceiling with a heavy sigh.

_That’s strange, but it doesn’t matter right now… Shirou was thinking too… He was thinking really hard._

She folds her arms across her face and sighs again.

_I’d definitely support him and Sakura… so if Sakura and Saber could agree to this stupid plan that little idiot has bouncing around in his small head…_

She smiles contentedly.

_I could live with that. But what about me…? Do I feel anything toward him? I mean, I love Sakura… She’s my sister, after all. And Shirou is really fun to pick on… but what do I feel toward him? Anything beyond that?_

She shuts her eyes and imagines his face, the feeling of his chest as her hand pressed into it earlier that day. The sight of him pushing her away as Berserker was moments from killing her. She presses her hand into her own chest to check her reaction.

_I mean… he was… but…?_

Her mind flashes for a moment and she tries to force the picture back to Shirou as she presses her hand into her chest again. Her heart thumps a bit but feels mostly steady.

_What about…_

She tries to imagine him pressing his lips into hers, and pushing his hand up her blouse, gently caressing her chest, and can feel face going slightly red under her imagination’s attentions. Her heart thumps a few more times, but besides, that remains calm and composed.

Then another face flashes through her mind again, and her heart slams.

She shakes her head aggressively, trying to clear it.

_No, that’s stupid…_

The image clears, and in her mind she’s back under the careful attention of Shirou, her body reacting with little more enthusiasm than any other time she’d sought to sate her baser desires.

Her mind flashes again, and she’s on the ground, with Berserker moments away from ending her life. Her heart hammers in her chest as the weapon comes down and then… doesn’t kill her. In her mind, her hands come down and the opaque cloud of dust fades to reveal the red cape fluttering just slightly as the air calms. The sound of steel grinding against stone reaches her ears as a few small sparks light up the surrounding night.

Impossibly, the small man holds back Berserker’s weapon, a weapon easily the size of a sedan, with his own, a beautiful yet humble katana, maybe about the same length as a simple bicycle.

***thump***

_No… that’s… That’s stupid…_

His face turns toward her as the weapon continues to hold Berserker back.

***thump***

_Come on, that’s… This is…_

His voice rings In her ears.

_‘G… glad you’re… okay…!’_

***THUMP***

_I mean… he’s…_

Again, her mind flashes to the roof. Lancer had just tried to end her, and with no clear regard for his own safety, he leaps from the shadows and lashes out, sending a shower of sparks into the night as his weapons bounce impotently aside.

_**‘Don’t attack… My FRIENDS…!’** _

***THUMP***

_No… this isn’t… This can’t…_

She attempts to force her mind to stop, but it denies her and continues, recalling all of those moments with the man.

The little man at her side, panting heavily, apologizing for some perceived failure to protect her on the roof of the school.

The small man, perspiring as he battles against Lancer in Shirou’s back yard, protecting the life of a boy he barely knows.

The shaking man, clinging to her, begging for a chance to explain himself.

The trembling man, pinning himself against the wall in her bedroom, conflicted and confused.

The talkative man, telling stories of a life she could barely imagine.

The enthralled man, whose eyes she can feel as she dances the dance of the stone he’s lent to her.

***Thump* *Thump* *Thump* *Thump* *Thump***

_No, stop… stop… Stop… STOP!_

The soft man, as she presses him into her chest, believing him to be a stuffed toy, his otherworldly scent wafting into her nose.

The polite man with an apology always a second away from his lips, for any slight, real or perceived.

_‘Right, sorry. It’s just good…’ ‘Right, sorry… That was rude. I’m sorry.’ ‘Ah, I’m sorry! That was rude! I didn’t mean it like that!!’ ‘I’m sorry, was that a rude question to ask?’ ‘I’m sorry, I jumped to a hasty conclusion…’ ‘AH!! I’m sorry! I got so into it I didn’t even think!’ ‘Ah, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’ll stop!’ ‘I’m sorry… I’m sorry… I’m sorry… I didn’t… It wasn’t… I’m sorry…’ ‘I’m sorry. Are you alright? Did I say something bad?’ ‘Sorry… I know. You gave her that ribbon, right?’ ‘Sorry… I made you think of something sad again.’ ‘Sorry… Are you okay? I can’t fight him like this…’ ‘I’m sorry… I shouldn’t have even let him get close to you…’_

_‘Sorry I worried you—!’_

***THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP***

She presses on her chest and against her head, trying to settle herself down and regain control of her mind.

_How many times has he even apologized…? How many times was it even necessary…? Why? Why am I thinking this? Why am I feeling this?_

_What am I even feeling…?_

The curious man, always with a question, a question, and another question behind it.

The stupid man, who would fall into an obvious trap, get sucked into another world, and laugh it off and take it in stride, still searching for a purpose.

The pure and righteous man, who wants nothing but happiness for those whom he cares, even bucking against social norms and embracing what others consider taboo to pursue it.

The strange man, with untold wealth but little concern for it. With wonders from another world, but little care for them. With crystals of boundless knowledge, who freely shares them. With power to take lives, but who fights to protect them.

The Warrior of Light, who hates the accolades, but accepts the weight of the world on his shoulders.

The man whose name she learned only two days ago…

_‘I’m sorry I waited so long, but I’m…’_

She presses her hands into her eyes, but despite her best efforts and all her attempts to deny what her mind seems to have already accepted to be true…

_‘Taiasu. Taiasu Taruko, from Hydaelyn.’_

_You stupid little man… What the hell did you do to me…_

A warm smile forms on her face.


End file.
